Canadians turn up the heat in Barbados

The view from the airplane window confirmed what I already knew about Barbados. The Caribbean island is a tropical paradise. Wrapped in all day sunshine, lined with spectacular white beaches, dotted with palm trees and surrounded by turquoise waters, there are few places as idyllic to escape to at the start of a long Canadian winter.

So it’s no surprise that the Run Barbados festival, which is held every year on the first weekend in December, bills itself as the event to “Come for the run; Stay for the fun.” Every year since the event’s inception in 1983, it has drawn a field with international flavour, ranging from the enthusiastic to the elite.

The event has also attracted a number of world marathon champion runners and Olympic medalists, including Catherine Ndereba, Rob de Castella, John Tracey and Jill Hunter, who have all won here.

Toronto’s Peter Maher was a three-time winner in the early 90s and fellow Torontonian Nicole Stevenson won in 2003.

Among those Canadian runners to toe the line for 2008 Run Barbados events were Kingston, Ontario’s standout Dylan Wykes (2:15 marathon debut at the 2008 Rotterdam marathon) and his coach, top Canadian masters runner Steve Boyd.  Both arrived in Barbados a week after racing in the Canadian cross country championships in Guelph, where Boyd took the master’s title and Wykes finished third in the Open Men’s division.

The festival opened with a one mile fun run at midnight through St. Lawrence Gap, the island’s popular nightlife district. That was followed up with the 10k on Saturday evening, which started along the Bay Street Esplanade in front of the beach strip in the capital city of Bridgetown. The Scotia Bank Half Marathon and the Powerade Marathon both started there on Sunday morning.

In Saturday’s 10k, Wykes led from the gun in a pack that included Kenya’s Robert Letting and Daniel Cheruiyot, another Kenyan living in the U.S. He and Letting broke off and ran shoulder to shoulder until Letting pulled away at the 4k mark. Letting posted 29:57 for the win, with Wykes finishing second in 30:41.

“The heat was brutal,” said Wykes at the finish line.  “It was a bit of a shock after slogging through the snow and the ice a week ago at the race in Guelph.”

On the master’s side, New Zealander Sean Wade, 1996 Olympic marathoner (2:10) and the number one masters runner in the world in 2006 and 2007,  finished first in 31:23 while Boyd, fighting a cold, struggling home in second in 32:56.

Wykes also ran the half-marathon the next morning, where he finished second again to Letting. “I woke up halfway through the race. The course was tougher than I expected but you have to ask yourself: Where else in the world would you rather be at this time of year?”