The last shall be first!
Teenager Dario Grandison was the last runner to arrive for the PowerAde Fun Mile on Friday night.
But in an almost unbelievable scenario, less than five minutes later he was the first to cross the finish line, ushering in the 2013 Run Barbados Series in sensational style.
Grandison, 17, arrived at the starting point above Time Out in upper St Lawrence Gap, Christ Church, just two minutes before the starter’s gun went off at 10 p.m. to send more than 400 runners on their way.
He desperately changed into his running gear but wasn’t able to get on his shoes as the countdown from 10 seconds began.
As a result, the former Deighton Griffith student, who won the 5 000 metres at the last Barbados Secondary Schools’ Championships, ran the entire race barefooted.
This didn’t seem to bother him as he caught his Pacers clubmate and early leader Hakeem Newton by the Shell Gas Station on Top Rock Main Road.
The two matched strides before Grandison surged ahead when they swung for home by Braddie’s Bar and he staved off the challenge of Newton in a sprint to the finish to triumph in 4:40 minutes.
Newton also clocked the same time. Former Barbados CARIFTA distance runner Christian Rock was third in 4:47 minutes, edging Trinidadian Nelinho Mierez (4:47) into fourth.
Christ Church Foundation schoolboy Rio Williams rounded off the top five in 4:54 minutes.
Grandison, who hails from Carrington Village in St Michael, almost didn’t make it on time as the route taxi transporting him to Dover was held up by police officers.
“In Bridgetown, there had [been] some trouble with the traffic and the police reported the van that I was in,” he said.
“Then, I had to get out by [the entrance to] St Lawrence Gap. I didn’t know exactly where the race was starting so I had to run up this road [by Dover playing field] and barely get into the race.”
The consistent Carlie Pipe was the first woman home and 28th overall, covering the course in 5:36 minutes.
Promising Lester Vaughan and CARIFTA quarter-miler, 14-year-old Tiana Bowen, who won last year’s race, was second this time in 5:50 minutes.
Robyn Haynes was the third woman to finish, in 6:05 minutes, with Sarah Williams (6:07) of Britain fourth. Springer Memorial schoolgirl Rosette Hoyte (6:23) pipped Harrisonian Charissa Moore, who was given the same time, for fifth place.
Pipe, 26, a Harrison College scholarship awardee to York University, told SUNSPORT that in the past she would simply run the mile to have fun, preserving her energy for the half-marathon, which she won last year.
“The race was good because usually when I do the Fun Mile, I just kind of take it easy. I run with a friend or family but this time, I said ‘I am going to run it and see what it feels like to compete in it’, so I just went all out,” she said.
Pipe said she wasn’t perturbed by the fast pace set by Bowen in the first 800 metres.
“You always see the younger athletes starting out really hard but the test is about halfway. You see if they start to fizzle out or not, so I caught her about halfway. I have the distance background so I have a little bit more of a push,” observed Pipe.
Apart from the local runners, the race attracted competitors from St Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago, Britain, Finland, Germany, Holland, Canada, the United States, Poland and Venezuela.
Sports administrator Kathy Harper-Hall, 76, was the 414th and oldest female finisher, completing the trip in 13:27 minutes.
Canadian Harry Graham, 77, was the oldest male finisher and 395th overall with a time of 12:15 minutes.
The series climaxes today, with the half-marathon starting at 5 a.m. and the 5K Run and Digicel 4G CEO Challenge at 5:15 a.m.
