14 hours ago
6
Alex Ekesa and Nyla Kerr claimed the men’s and women’s titles at Saturday’s ANSA Motors 5K road race at Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain.
Facing a field of some 2,000 runners and walkers, both athletes returned to the starting point in under 19 minutes. Ekesa, continuing a dominant streak in domestic road racing, warmed up for an upcoming United States marathon with a winning time of 15 minutes and four seconds, nearly a minute ahead of his closest rival, Darius Harding (15.31).
The Kenyan runner has a desire not just to cop the gold medal, but to serve as an example to youth regarding the level of performance needed to compete on the international stage.
“It feels so great to always come out here and actually try to push yourself, to push your limits and see how far you can go,” Ekesa said. “Being here and being a dominant participant in these local races, it really means a lot. Not only for my achievements, but also trying to showcase my pride to the young upcoming generation, that actually, as much as they want to better themselves and maybe aspire to represent the country on a global platform, they really need to understand that the bar is really high up here, so they have to aspire to push themselves to become better.”
Ekesa, who joins a line of dominant Kenyan long-distance runners before him, such as Stephen Njoroge and namesake Stephen Tanui, among many others, showed that he was anything but bothered by the 5k race he participated in mere hours before, as he stepped past the finish line to a thunderous cheer by the crowd that awaited them.
Speaking to Guardian Media Sports about his performance, he added: “It’s not only for my achievements, but also to encourage the young upcoming generation to push themselves and want to be better. And the running community as a whole, the trainers as a whole, to actually come out here to run, just for their own health.”
“In these 5k’s, I’m not really running per se to win, but I’m using it as a progression because I’m really training right now for the marathon in the US, so I’m using these 5k’s as my warm-up races to actually try to build up my speed.”
Harding secured the silver medal, while Donnell Francis collected bronze, crossing the finish line in 15 minutes and 43 seconds.
Meanwhile, a shy-natured Nyla Kerr crossed the finish line as the first women’s runner, placing 11th overall after ten men had already finished.
Her time of 18 minutes and 32 seconds stood out once again as another rivalry between her and second-place Alexia John ended in her favour. Usually exhausted after her races, Kerr stopped at the finish line for about a minute to catch her breath before proceeding to the athletes’ village, where an array of ANSA McAL products were on display.
John followed her counterpart past the finish line as the second female finisher with a time of 18.58. April Francis was the third woman to break the ribbon. Her time of 20.11 secured her a spot on the podium.
Kerr, enjoying her victory, told the media afterwards that her plan was to stay close to the male runners before making her move and it worked out perfectly.
“ I feel great. I was not in any pain, which I’m grateful for, thank God. It was a smooth course, and I’m grateful for it. My plan was to stay with the gentlemen in front of me for the majority of the race, and when they pulled away, that was when I paced myself to victory.”
RESULTS
MEN:
1 Alex Ekesa 15:04, 2 Darius Harding 15: 31, 3 Donnell Francis 15:43, 4 Jamal Bailey 17:32, 5 Raheem Modeste 17:35, 6 Dval Moore 17:38, 7 Guswill George 17:45, 8 Basanji Neter 17:46, 9 Adam Montano 17:56, 10 William Mootoo 18:31, 11 Corey Joseph- Samaroo 18:59, 12 Micah Pierre 19:00, 13 Akil Ragbir 19:01, 14 Terrell Ephraim 19:10, 15 Renoki Abbott 19:15
WOMEN:
1 Nyla Kerr 18:32, 2 Alexia John 18:58, 3 April Francis 20:11, 4 Aura Whittier 21:13, 5 Heqpera Khafra 23:47, 6 Nakifa Punter 23:53, 7 Genesis Marchan 24:13, 8 Shania De Ramos 24:46, 9 Kathlena King-Superville 24:47, 10 Shana Lobai 25:01, 11 Khama Mohammed-Sooknanan 25:11, 12 Schanika Thomas 25:12, 13 Aaliyah Mohammed 25:25, 14 Claire Fortune 25:26, 15 Leela Modeste 25:27
English (US) ·