NEVIS CYCLE & TRIATHLON CLUB

The 8^th annual Nevis Triathlon had to be deemed a huge success, with far more athletes and attending countries than had been expected, the race director Winston Crooke stated “it was amazing to see the number of people joining in, especially in the Try-A-Tri event, it was wonderful to se so many first timers getting involved” The event was also the St Kitts & Nevis National Championships male and female for 2010, and new for this year and 5km fun run was included as a fundraiser.

There was a great crowd in attendance from the outset of the swim in Gallows Bay, with the T.A.T athletes starting their 250 mtr out and back swim by themselves, once they had all finished the Olympic and Sprint athletes were stated together on the triangular course. Totally dominant in the swim was Olympic Relay Team member Rhian Purdy (MUA) who led from start to finish, completing the 2 lap 1500 mtrs in 23:18, hotly pursued by eventual overall winner Marcus Dodd (UK). A treat for the spectators was to have the Olympic athletes exit and re-enter the water after the 1^st lap enabling them to clearly see who was positioned where in the race. The Sprint swim leg was won by Jonathan Paul (T&T;) with a time of 11:48.

As the competitors transitioned from swim to bike in the converted car park on Samuel Hunkins Drive, they were greeted by Winn FM’s Vernon Springer who joined the event as co-host, his bright and energetic style quickly getting the crowd involved and cheering the athletes on. The TAT racers had to do one lap of the bike course that took them out to Cotton Ground and back, the Sprint did 2 laps and th Olympic 4 laps of the 40km course, the shortened course allowing the onlookers to better follow the race action as the riders rode through the car park to start their laps. It became evident that Marcus was not only fast in the water but extremely quick on the bike, with his aero helmet and very high tech tri bike, he was flying around the course. There were of course huge cheers for current National and OECS champion Reggie Douglas, and for James Weekes, the two most obvious local contenders for the day and the 2010 National Male championships.

At the finish Marcus held onto his lead to the finish with the athletes Ancil Greene and Clarence Tobias  from T&T; rounding out the podium top spots, James Weekes battled through a painful injury in the run to re claim the National Champions title he held from 2000 – 2004, for Miranda Fellows it was a great return to form as she took the National female title and 2^nd female overall. In the Sprint, it was 2009 defending champion Ramnarine taking the top spot In fine style once more with Alexander Fox in the top spot for the females. There was a great demonstration of the up and coming youths of Nevis most particularly Alista Usher and Akeem Greene two 15 yr olds attempting the sprint distance for the very first time and aquitting themselves very well, finishing in !:27:06 and 1:32:09 respectively, a wonderful performance from both of these young men. Other junior members of the Nevis Cycle and triathlon club who are still in the learning stages of the swim program opted to do a duathlon of Bike and Run as part of the try-a-tri, we look forward to these youngsters as they develop and roud out their skills. The Olympic Team event was won easily by the combined skills of Rhian/Assim and Maria, with Rhian posting the fastest swim time, and 14yr old Assim having a superb outing in the bike leg completing the course in 58 minutes, also the fastest on the day.

The organisers wish to heartily thank all their sponsors, volunteers and supporters for their invaluable assistance before and during this event, with special thanks to the Nevis Police Force, the SKN Coast Guard, Nevis Port Authority, Nevis Red Cross and BIO SPORT-FLY for coming to the rescue once more. 

When counted, more than 85 athletes were in attendance for the three categories, Olympic, Sprint and Try-A-Tri, the overall winners were:-

OLYMPIC MALE – Marcus Dodd (UK)   2:10:55

       “          FEMALE – Hannah Barnes (Scotland) 2:42:50

 SPRINT MALE – Ramnarine Chanderpaul (Trinidad & Tobago 1:1:26

      “       FEMALE – Alexandra Fox (SXM) 1:26:48

 TRY-A-TRI ADULT MALE – Paul Skiller (UK) 42:52

   “      “    “         “       FEMALE – Carrie Shirley (St Kitts) 52:50

   “      “    “   JUNIOR MALE – Jose Garcia (Puerto Rico) 48:50

   “      “    “         “        FEMALE – Sasha Lloyd (Nevis) 49:35

(for full results go to results page)