By BVIAA
St. John’s Timothy “TJ” Hindes takes out the field in Saturday’s Virgin Gorda Half Marathon en route to improving his own course record with a time of 1 hour 32 minutes and 05 seconds Photo: Dean “The Sportsman” Greenaway
St. John’s Timothy “TJ” Hindes sprinted away from the pack at the start—using the same strategy he employed last year—then went on to become the first repeat winner in the four year history of the grueling Virgin Gorda Half Marathon, improving his own course record in the process.
Hindes set off on a punishing pace up to Nail Bay with Reuben Stoby his only serious pursuer in tow, returned then circled The Valley including historic Coppermine and the Baths to win in 1 hour 32 minutes and 05 seconds improving on the 1:32.34 mark from last year. Stoby was six minutes back in 1:38.23.
“It was great and hard, a lot like last year—stuck with the plan—run in the front in the beginning and stay there,” said Hindes who expected Stoby’s challenge. “I just wanted to get ahead of him soon as I could so hopefully he’d give up when I was passing him on the way down from Nail Bay. That was the plan—put enough space in front of him so he didn’t think he could catch me.”
Hindes who uses St. John’s 8 Tuff Miles course for his training said his strength is running the hills and with the second half of the course being flatter, he was a little worried about Stoby catching him there. “I just tried to hang on and not walk up to Nail Bay, because it’s a tough climb,” he noted. “The challenge is not walking and staying ahead of everybody, trying to climb those hills and put the gap between second place. I improved my time from last year so I can’t be upset with that.”
Stoby said he was putting his bag in the truck when the race started and it threw him off his race plan. “Hindes starts very quickly so it was difficult trying to catch him and hold him, so eventually, I just had to settle for second,” he said, noting that excruciating could hardly describe chasing Hindes up to Nail Bay. “It’s one of the toughest courses for sure. Anybody who wants to torture themselves this is the place to come.”
Race director Casey McNutt said Hindes is a force to reckon with. “If he continues to come, anybody who wants to consider challenging him will have to step up with a big game—a really big game,” she said. “It’s always anyone’s race when you show up in the morning and anyone can have a great day or a bad day, but, that kind of athleticism is rare. To finish this course in 1:32 is shockingly impressive.”
Like Hindes, Katrina Crumpler defended her women’s title. Crumpler—between Marathons after a personal best of 3 hours 22 minutes and 53 seconds in Boston last month and ahead of the May 24 Buffalo Marathon—chopped five minutes off last year’s mark finishing in 1:47.35.
“I love this race. It’s challenging, hilly and it was a lot easier than last year although it’s not an easy race,” Crumpler noted, adding that there was a real competition among them this year. “The lady that came second (Beth Simmons), I would overtake her on the hills and she would sprint past me on the downhill. I would catch her on the next hill, so we were playing cat and mouse all through the hills. It’s really only in the second half of the course I went ahead of her—she pushed me the whole way through the second half.”
Simmons described the race as a ‘butt kicker for sure.’ “It’s one of the hardest races I’ve run but it’s beautiful. The support was amazing, the crowds fabulous,” the Southern California native noted as she prepares for a Half Marathon in Mammoth. “The winner is a strong runner. I think the heat and the humidity just took its toll.”
Final Results
Men: 1. Timothy “TJ” Hindes 1 hour, 32 and 05 seconds, (New course record. Old record, Hindes, 1:32.34, 2014) .2. Reuben Stoby, 1:38.23. 3. Julius Farley, 1:41.01. 4. Rodrigo DosSantos, 1:42.23. 5. Chris Thomas, 1:46.35. 6. Paul Hubbard, 1:48:14. 7. Curwin Andrews, 1:50:10. 8. Ezron Simmons, 1:58.59. 9. Russell Crumpler, 1:59.26. 10. Allan Cundall, 1:59.29. 11. Richard Morgan, 2:00.21. 12. Ryan Blanchard, 2:02.33. 13. Ciaran O’Shaughnessy, 2:04.26. 13. Joseph McIvor, 2:06.49. 14. Marco Bava, 2:06.53. 15. Damien Lysiak, 2:07.14. 16. Gareth Watkins, 2:08.29. 17. Adrian Dale, 2:08.49. 18. Keith Williams, 2:09.16. 19. Kenton Jones, 2:13.20. 20. Shane Donovan, 2:15.01. 21. Guy Paul Dubois, 2:16.41. 22. Michael Reiter, 2:17.46. 23. Christie Brown. 2:19.07. 24. Jermain Abreams, 2:19.24. 25. Joshua Rossiter, 2:22.58. 26. Alex Smith, 2:28.06. 27. Keith Regan, 2:32.18, 28. Arun Keshap, 2:33.51, 29. Ruairi Bourke, 2:36.38. 31. Scott Butz, 2:46.15. 32. Zoltan Birinyi, 3:14:33.
Women: 1. Katrina Crumpler, 1:47.37. (New record. Old Record, Crumpler, 1:52.55, 2014). 2. Beth Simmons, 1:49.36. 3. Jenny McIvor, 1:53.36. 4. Kathleen Brownsdon, 1:56.10. 5. Rosmond Johnson, 1:59.37. 6. Serena Krueger, 2:00.21. 7. Caitlin Goodwin, 2:04.36. 8. Kay Reddy, 2:08.02. 9. Nadine Leslie, 2:09.03. 10. Anna Kinkead, 2:16.04. 11. Jessica Miles, 2:17.42. 12. Kerry Ann DosSantos, 2:22.10. 13. Philomena Robertson, 2:28.17. 14. Rhiannon Davies, 2:29.43. 15. Amoi Foerstel, 2:30.41. 16. Alexandrea DeJarnett, 2:30.44. 17. Sarah Hayes, 2:32.43. 18. Andrea Sorlie, 2:36.54. 19. AJ Syrett, 2:42.43. 20. Natasha Lysiak, 2:45.25. 21. Becca Knight, 2:46.22. 22. Ann Marie Rivard, 2:49.43. 23. Brianne Leary, 2:49.44. 24. Jude Holmes, 2:53.10, 25. Jill Farley, 3:02:13.
6 Mile Challenge
Men: 1. Jacob Reed Stolzenfels, 49:02. 2. Kyle Vestermarks, 53:58. 3. Adam D’Monte, 54:07. 4. Erik Remar, 54:32. 5. Lewis Munn, 1:04.23. 6. Merwin Rodriguez, 1:04.26. 7. James Morrin, 1:04.35. 8. Ethan Lysiak, 1:06.03. 9. Steve Biery, 1:07.53. 10. Noah Fox, 1:09.19. 11. Chris Fraser, 1:09.20. 12. Wilbert Samuel, 1:09.21. 13. Adam Holdt, 1:10.08. 14. David Cattie, 1:13.05. 15. Alex Holliday, 1:32:16.
Women: 1. Lindsay Wilson, 58:38. 2. Christine Sheehan,1:00.48. 3. Denell Vestermarks, 1:01.05. 4. Leanne Munn, 1:01.39. 5. Julie Lonski, 1:05.34. 6. Stephanie Wessels, 1:05.46. 7. Clair Burke, 1:05.55. 8. Diane Stolmar, 1:08.23. 9. Jewellyn Gerald, 1:08.35. 10. Kimberly Cole, 1:09.02. 11. Karen Morrison, 1:09.20. 12. Candy Holdt, 1:10.07. 13. Beth Besom, 1:12.15. 14. Abriel Lysiak, 1:18.11. 15. Kirsten Vlietstra, 1:24.49. 16. Audrey Penn, 1:27.01. 17. Chris Yates, 1:29.34.,] 18. Ashley Helb, 1:30.10. 19. Noni Georges, 1:30.44. 20. Charlene Odango, 1:34.49. 21. Rodessa Ordoyo, 1:34.50. 22. JoAnn Manlapaz, 1:34:51. 23. Betty Paradisi, 1:35:58. 24. Lisa Brown, 1:36.09. 25. Kristen Collins, 1:40.27. 26. Chloe King, 1:40.28.
