The University College of the Cayman Islands marked its golden jubilee by welcoming hundreds of participants to its inaugural 50th anniversary 50K Endurance Race.
What began under the cover of darkness at 5am on 11 Jan., evolved into a vibrant celebration of five decades challenging athletes across distances ranging from a fun run/walk 5K to the 50K ultramarathon.
The individual 50K delivered a photo finish as Esmond Brown and Andrew Morrison revisited their recent rivalry, pushing each other to the brink over five laps of the George Town loop.
Brown – fresh off his victory at last month’s Walkers Cayman Islands Marathon – narrowly defended his winning streak, clocking in at 3:40:56.7 to edge out Morrison by a mere tenth of a second. Morrison, who placed third in the December marathon, showed improvement to push the champion to the final stride.
Jake Vader rounded out the podium with a time of 4:05:01.4, securing third place in a field that required both mental and physical fortitude to complete the 31-mile distance.
In the team category, the 50K relay allowed groups to share the ultramarathon experience, with ‘Return Of The Mother Lovin Runners’ taking the gold in 4:20:24.0.
In second place was Mufg Quintet with a time of 4:29:46.3 followed by Collas Crill who secured the bronze with 4:47:38.8.
The 25K half-ultra saw Abraham Whittaker claim the top spot with a time of 1:40:39.9.
Following behind to claim silver with a time of 1:47:10.0 was Jalene Cruz – First Place Female Overall in the full Walkers Cayman Islands Marathon last month. Grabbing the final podium spot with a time of 1:51:36.0 was Enrico Carmassi.
In the 10K sprint, Safina Reid crossed the line first with a time of 35:04.6, followed by Mike McDonald at 39:38.7 and Steven Tanugraha at 41:40.8 for third.
Within each race category was the inclusion of 10 solo ultramarathoners, seven five-member relay teams, 30 participants in the 25K, and 90 runners in the 10K – rounding out to 395 participants.
The heartbeat of the morning, however, was the 5K fun run/walk, which saw 230 participants – ranging from competitive walkers to families – finish at the UCCI campus on Olympic Way.
Team effort
After the event, Nanalie Cover, acting president and CEO of UCCI, said the event was a “collective effort of the entire senior management leadership team to put on”.
In celebration of their anniversary, she said, “We planned various activities, book signings, this road race was one of them, and this took a fundamental amount of effort for each and every one, so it was combined, and as you saw today, it came together nicely.”
She added, “We’re trying to rebrand our university, … trying to ensure that we are community focused and get everyone involved, so this was a very important event for us today, and we hope to make this now an annual event going forward.”
