Thousands of runners from around the world gathered this past weekend to compete in the Sunshine Insurance Race Weekend, which was highlighted by the eighth annual Marathon Bahamas yesterday.
According to Sunshine Insurance Vice President of Operation Shelly Wilson, one of the key organizers, this year's marathon stacked up well against those of years past, in terms of attendance, with a large number of participants coming from overseas.
"About 30 percent of the participants this year were tourists," she said. "Participation in the event has ranged to about 1,000 participants or just over that, and we may have met or surpassed that number again."
The marathon started and ended at Junkanoo Beach (west of downtown Nassau). It went east through downtown Nassau over the Sir Sidney Poitier Bridge, returning over the eastern Paradise Island Bridge. The route continued east to Montagu Beach with a westward turn onto Shirley Street all the way to Cumberland Street north. At Bay Street, the course continued to the west, hugging the northern shores of Cable Beach, Delaporte and West Bay Street. The turnaround was about a quarter of a mile west of Compass Point, and then the runners returned east all the way to the eastern entrance of Arawak Cay for an oceanfront finish.
Leigh Schmit and Chen Lo crossed the finish line yesterday as the top male and female finishers respectively in the 26.2-mile race.
Schmit, 44, who's from North Hampton, New Hampshire, crossed the finish line in 2:52:21, and Lo, 33, who resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, finished in 3:17:57.6.
Florida native Johnathan Volpi was the top male finisher in the half marathon for the fourth straight year with a time of 1:14:43.9; and in women's action, Florencia Morales, of Argentina, won the half marathon in 1:29:44.7.
St. Anne's high school emerged as the top finisher in the student run, followed by Westminster College and St. Augustine's College (SAC).
The team of Omavi Collison, Phillip Armbrister, Vincent Gardiner and Reagan Cartwright crossed the line in 3:09:40 for the St. Anne's Blue Waves.
In the adult relay action, the Bald Eagles won the male division in 3:09:26; and the GBPA Pacers took the female division in 4:13.28.
The other half of race weekend, the Susan G. Komen 5k (kilometer) Race for the Cure, was staged on Saturday. Over 1,000 runners and walkers took part in that race, which started at Montagu Beach and finished at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island.
All of the proceeds collected from the race will remain in The Bahamas to fund breast cancer research and women's health programs.
The Bahamas' Ministry of Tourism served as a diamond sponsor of the event; Atlantis, FOCOL and BTC served as platinum sponsors.

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