Richard Lewis of Ufukuzo Road Racing Club became the winner of the first Ufukuzo Midnight 50km Ultramarathon road race early on Sunday morning.The race started promptly at midnight at the Independence Arch and Lewis won in a time of four hours, 30 minutes and 50 seconds. Winston Mascoll, also of Ufukuzo was second in 4:38:36 and Sergeant Rodney Blackman of the Barbados Defence Force third in 4:41:09. Nine of the ten starters (seven men and two women) finished the race. Several other Ufukuzo club members and associates like Angie Skeete and Lidia Luther did the final 34km, while Leith Daley-Cummins did the final 29km.26km loopFrom Wibisco Stars, Franklyn Hoyte and David Skeete completed a 26km loop which included the final 13km of the route and independent Mark Greenidge did a 29km loop.Based on the success of this local first of its kind venture, the very positive feedback from the participants and the mobile support teams, the organisers plan to make the Ufukuzo Midnight 50km Ultramarathon an annual event and to increase the number of participants from Barbados and around the world. Organisers restricted this gruelling event, which extends beyond the traditional marathon distance of 42km (26.2 miles), to ten athletes from Ufukuzo Road Racing Club and associates from Wibisco Stars and the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) who met the minimum requirement of having completed a full marathon or a half marathon in less than two hours in the 18-month period ending in April.Official results of the Ufukuzo 50km Ultramarathon:1. Richard Lewis 4:30:502. Winston Mascoll 4:38:363. Rodney Blackman 4:41:094. Ralf Luther 4:47:165. Joseph Clarke 4:53:086. André Procope 5:26:577. Eric Clarke 5:47:278. Paulina Valencia 5:57:229. Lizette Ward 6:12:0410. David Craigwell (did not finish – stopped 33km into the event due to leg cramp). (PR/SAT)
