Turks and Caicos runners making the trip to Canada

The Niagara Falls women’s half-marathon will have a Caribbean connection this year, with a group of women coming in from the island of Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The Provo Roadrunners is a running club that formed when president Leanne Higgs was training for a half-marathon in Disneyworld and her training partner stopped training after returning from the race. Higgs set out to form a regular group of runners who could train and race together on the island. What started as a few women meeting on Saturdays to run has expanded to a larger group meeting multiple mornings each week to train for international races.

“The majority of our group runs three times a week,” said Higgs in an email.

A few of the 10 women coming to race in Niagara Falls have been to Canada before, but it will be the first time most of them have raced, or even been, to Canada. They train in a much different climate.

“Most of our training is in the wee hours of the morning to beat the heat,” said Higgs. “Our last long run training was this Saturday and we started at 4 a.m.”

The trip to Niagara is about more than running for some of the women. A few have other plans while in the popular tourist destination. Many have plans to visit the region’s popular wineries and the iconic waterfall.

The Niagara Falls women’s half-marathon will take place on Sunday, June 1.