SAINT LUCIA has earned its first hold on the CARICOM Chairman’s Trophy for the male winner of the Annual CARICOM 10K Road Race which was this year staged in St Kitts and Nevis, in the margins of the 32nd Summit, on Sunday.
Guyana, who in 2009, topped the male category in the person of Cleveland Forde, settled down to take the female category in this year’s run, compliments of Euleen Josiah-Tanner.
During the closing ceremony of the Summit on Monday, CARICOM Chairman Denzil Douglas presented the trophy to Saint Lucia’s Zepherinus Joseph who finished with a time of 37:07.00, beating Grenada’s Sherwin Paul into second place with a time of 37:57.93. St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Pamenos Ballantyne  – who dominated the event from its inception and up to 2008 –  settled for the third position with a time of 39:29.73, while Suriname’e Syveryo Siemison finished fourth in 40:18.07 secs.
His Excellency Desiré Delano Bouterse, President of the Republic of Suriname and Lead Head of Government for Community Development and Cultural Cooperation including Culture, Gender Youth and Sport in the CARICOM quasi-cabinet, presented the Trophy to Guyana’s Euleen Josiah-Tanner who stamped her dominance on the female category, clocking a time of 43:06.52.
Grenada’s Kenisha Pascal in a time of 45:05.84 claimed the second place ahead of Guyana’s Alika Morgan, who followed closely with a time of 45:59.19. Morgan was the reigning champion in this category prior to the 2009 staging of the event. Suriname’s Ilsida Toemere finished fourth with a time of 46:09.55.
In 2009, Trinidad and Tobago’s Shermin Lasaldo won this event.
The Sixth CARICOM 10K Road race was staged under the theme ‘Run for life … Exercise your Right’ and was used as a vehicle to promote physical activity in light of the Port of Spain Declaration in which CARICOM Member States committed to supporting actions and initiatives aimed at addressing the alarming prevalence of Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases in the Region.
Coordinated by the CARICOM Secretariat, the event was made possible by the tremendous support of corporate sponsors in St Kitts and Nevis, namely BEAUMONT PARK Ltd, St Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla National Bank, S. L. Horsford and Company Ltd. (CARICOM Secretariat).