PHILIPSBURG—It was another excellent turnout for the 34th My Guardian Group Run and Walk on Sunday in Belair with some 200 persons taking on either the 10K or 3K Run distances.
Among the runners were several youth teams such as the Learning Unlimited (LU) track team and the Dynamics Club who turned in impressive performances.
A change this year saw the start and finish take place on the beach instead of outside in the Belair Hotel access road.
François de Laport won the 10K race in 42:06, some way short of Omarco Robinson’s winning time of 36:08 last year. Stephen Seymour was second (42:59) and Avenir Sportif Club’s Anthony Seguin took third (44.25). Seguin won last year’s 3k race in 10:36.
Kristin Kopec was the winner of the women’s 10K race in 49 minutes (ninth overall). Felicia Paines (49:19) was second (12th overall) and Patricia Nolf third (49:39), 13th overall.
The 3K race was won by Yohan Baert (12:57), Daulton Samuels was second (13:05) and Joe Narducci took third (13:16).
There were some outstanding performances recorded from LU kids who took part in the 10K. Over 40 children from the school took part. A large number of participants were track and soccer team members with their parents.
Oliver Hobgood (12) finished in 25th place in 57:12; Diesel Kopec (14) was 36th in 1:02:33; Paul ten Broecke (13) finished 39th in 1:04:50; Thomas ten Broecke (10) in 47th place in 1:11:17 and Cade Leone (13) in 54th place 1:18:54.
And in the 3K race, eight very young kids from LU competed. They were Maurist Noordzij (5), Eva Kingma (6), Sanna Timmermans (6), Tessel Noordzij (7), Ahmed Alousef (7), Noor Yoursef (8), Sanja Jandial (8) and Hugo Gruijters (8).
“I’m so happy that these children were inspired to this race with many of them participating with their parents,” said track team trainer Kristin Kopec afterwards. “I do believe the passion for living an active and healthy lifestyle starts young. I enjoy seeing the kids balance their daily challenges with mental and physical activities.”
As usual the male and female winners of the 10K receive tickets to participate in the Curacao Guardian Group Run.
