The comeback kid surely came back with a bang.
One year after dropping out of the Powerade 10K, Richard Kessio simply dropped the field instead, overcoming last year’s heartache by leading yesterday’s event from start to finish on the way to victory in the Run Barbados Series.
Running from Bay Street to Spring Garden and back, the wiry Kenyan, who fell out of last year’s edition on Fontabelle as the defending champ, never seemed challenged while coming home first in 31 minutes, 18 seconds.
But the only dropping Kessio did along Fontabelle was of second-placed countryman Silas Kisorio (31:25) – the winner of the 2012 event – who quickly fell off the pace when Kessio turned on the heat by Kensington Oval on the return trip.
“I’m used to running here in Barbados, so all I have to do is run my race and I am confident that I can win,” said the Kenyan-born distance runner who now represents Canada after winning last year’s half-marathon and the 2011 marathon.
It wasn’t a good day at all for defending champions, as American Jess Draskau-Peterson unseated reigning women’s winner Leah Kigen by finishing seventh overall in 34:19 – more than a whole minute ahead of the second-placed Kenyan (35:46).
“On the turnaround I saw her, so I knew I had to move it or Leah would have me,” reasoned Draskau-Peterson.
That thought never crossed Kessio’s mind, though, not even after Kisorio led a lead pack that included Jamaicans Shawn Pitter and Kirk Brown along with Cleveland Forde of Guyana that stuck on his heels heading onto Spring Garden.
However, the Kenyans left their Caribbean counterparts in their wake along the highway before Kessio started to build a 20-metre lead when returning to Holborn Circle.
Kisorio tried to hold on, giving it one last gasp by trying to hook back on to his compatriot but it proved all in vain once Kessio turned on the jets at Kensington before blowing the lead wide open going through a busy Broad Street.
Pitter (31:40) eventually crossed the line third, while Forde (32:26), Brown (32:30) and Jamaican Rupert Green (33:36) were fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.
Once again Jerome Blackett was the first Barbadian home, placing eighth overall after finishing in a time of 35:43 despite being plagued by recent injuries.
“It was kind of challenging because I didn’t get any training during the year. I missed out on a whole track series and I didn’t get in a lot of work because of injuries,” said Blackett.
“I just tried to run from memory and take the burn and look for success. It wasn’t better than last year but I am really satisfied because I didn’t have in half the work that I did last year.”
The first local woman to finish the event was former Lodge girl Amanda Maximilien, who was 52nd overall with a clocking of 46:28.
