The usually quiet community of Long Bay, St Philip, was alive with activity on Sunday, as children, adults and seniors gathered to participate in the annual Long Bay Community Youth Group 5-K Run, Walk And Ride.
Aimed at building community togetherness, founder of the event, Derek “Ripping Snake” Jones, said that bringing the community together in sporting events was something he loved.
“God spare life, I’ll be back again next year, because this is something I love . . . bringing the community together in a fun and positive way,” Jones, a former boxer and distance runner, told MIDWEEK SPORT.
Benny Rowe, a seasoned starter at athletic meets, who assisted Jones with staging of the multiple sporting disciplines, echoed Jones’ love for the event, with a focus on the sports aspect of it.
“When it comes to sports, I would like to see every man, woman and child develop physically, and when you develop physically you get strong mentally,” said Rowe.
“Sports can bring the world together and I like to see people uniting in sports,” he added.
Unity was indeed the order of the evening as residents from a number of districts in St Philip such as neighbouring Seaview, Crane, as well as several “non-Philipians” participated in the events.
First was the children’s run which was won by young Tyrese Robinson and Drew-Anne Clarke, who were the first boy and girl, respectively.
In the adult run, well-known Barbadian long-distance runner Jerome Blackett placed first among the males, while young Joanne Clarke was the first female home.
In the children and adult cycling, first prize went to Javon Knight and Edwin Sutherland, respectively,while Ravonda Broomes was the first female junior cyclist.
The seniors were not left out however, as 79-year-old Brenda Farley was the oldest female in the adult run and Ronald Waithe was the oldest male in the adult walk.
Despite the positives, the event had many hiccups to overcome, such as lack of police presence to redirect traffic, which led to many delays in between the races and also put the participants at risk.
