Five-time marathon champion Victor Ledger of St Lucia will not be among the current and former champions who will be back for the 2010 Powerade Run Barbados Series.
“Ledger had an accident and was out of training for a while. He just started training again and he is unable to compete this year. We just found that out last week,” Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA) sports consultant Hayden Coppin told NATIONSPORT yesterday.
“He said when he ran last year he had an injury which he aggravated in that event, and then he had a minor injury that displaced his hip.
He wasn’t able to run for quite a while. He just started running a couple months ago so he is not going to be in condition to defend his title.”
Ledger is one of the most decorated in the series, having won the marathon in 1996, 2004, 2006, 2007 and last year. He also placed in the top three on several other occasions.
Husband and wife back
Instead, it is the husband and wife team of Philip Langat and Panini Sawed from Kenya who are expected to wow spectators again this year. Langat was the winner of the half-marathon and 10K in 2007 and 2009, while Sawed won the 10K and marathon last year.
Half-marathon champion Erin O’Mara; three-time marathon champ Amy Chalk and Janet Chaperon, the 2007 10K and half-marathon winner, have all confirmed their participation.
Also taking part will be Canadians Reid Colossae, Andrew Smith and Megan Brown; Kenyans Julius Kiptoo and Alphonce Kibor-Yatich and Briton Paul Whittaker.
Among the region’s elite coming will be Vincentian Pamenos Ballantyne, winner of the marathon from 1997 to 1999 and again in 2008. He also has a hat-trick of titles in the half-marathon from 2000 to 2002.
St Lucian Zepherinus Joseph, the 2006 half-marathon winner; Trinidadians Curtis Cox, Richard Jones and Shermin Lasaldo as well as Guyanese Kelvin Johnson, Cleveland Forde and Alika Morgan will all be back.
Simon Salway, winner of this year’s Trinidad half-marathon will also be in action.
Route plan
Coppin was optimistic that the routes would remain unchanged as Minister of Transport and Works John Boyce announced recently that the Wharf Road would be reopened at the end of the month.
But there is a Plan B in place.
“If that is the case and the road is reopened, we will revert to our old route. However, if there are acts of God or they may find something they didn’t plan for, if some mishap occurs and the road is not reopened, we have calibrated a new course that will incorporate Broad Street,” Coppin said.
Registration can be done online at www.runbarbados.org or at the BTA during office hours until December 2.
The following day, registration will shift to the Divi Southwinds, Christ Church. Runners can register for the 3K, 5K and 10K up to noon on the day of the race and up to 4 p.m. for the marathon and half marathon.
