By: Dean Greenaway
Maxford Pipe, left, edges Guy Williamson for his first victory his rival on Saturday, in the Blenheim Trust 5K Series finale. Photo credit: Cleave Farrington
Although Guy Williamson won the overall men’s division of the 2014 Blenheim Trust 5K Series, Maxford Pipe ended his streak of victories with a furious finish during Saturday’s finale, by .01 seconds.
Williamson outsprinted Pipe in the March 8 season opener at the A. O. Shirley Recreation Grounds and this time, Pipe reversed his finishing strategy and turned the tables to win in 18 minutes and 52.17 seconds to Williamson’s 18.52.18.
“This was a fantastic race. Guy set the pace which I was comfortable with and I just kept picking him off,” Pipe explained of his opponent who opened up a sizeable lead at the start. “We played cat and mouse coming back and I said I would stay behind him, because when you’re behind you can always see what’s going on in front so I tried the technique and tried to hold him close as possible to the end. The last race we finished here, I started to kick too early and Guy took me at the finish, so I tried to do it to him.”
Williamson, who also lost to Pipe for the first time in the Dive BVI 10K Series finale on Virgin Gorda last week, said he has been improving.
“He has been pushing the pace and it’s great to have that level of inter island competition,” he noted. “The conditions today were cool to push the pace and he pushed it right to the end for a sprint finish, so you couldn’t ask for more.”
The race was a pursuit race where the women had a 5 minute start ahead of the men and for the first time ever, no man overhauled the deficit by the first two women, led by Katrina Crumpler’s 22:09 and soon to be 13 year old Tallulah Kinkead’s 23:15.
“I tried my best to keep them off and I managed to do so and it was a good race,” Crumpler said. “It was nice and cool, a bit of rain and that definitely helped. I remember last year was quite hot and it was a big difference this year, really nice conditions.”
Crumpler, Pipe and Williamson will all contest the 3rd Virgin Gorda Half Marathon on Saturday. The race begins at 6:30 a.m. and will take in several scenic vistas of the island including a section of Gorda Peak and Coppermine.
Final Results; Men. 1. Maxford Pipe, 18 minutes 52.17 seconds. 2. Guy Williamson, 18:52.18. 3. Ian Montgomery, 19.47. 4. Julius Farley, 19.16. 5. Curwin Andrews, 20:23. 6. Vaughan Vanoudtshoorn, 20:32. 7. Aaron Gardner, 20:40. 8. Michael Killourhy, 21:30. 9. Paul Hubbard, 22:05. 10. Stefano Tasking, 22:21. 11. Adrian Dale, 22:31. 12. Patrick Ormond, 22:36. 13. Charles Kerins, 22:49. 14. Shane Donovan, 23:01. 15. David Kinkead, 23:15. 16. Russell Crumpler, 23:36. 17. Luka Chalwell, 23:58. 18. Dan Mitchell, 24:09. 19. Sam Potgieter, 24:27. 20. Chris Potgieter, 28:01. 21. Carl Masefield, 28:07. 22. Stephen Bridson, 27:08. 23. Chris Ghiorse, 27:28. 24. Henry Creque, 29:46. 25. Howard Moore, 30:01. 26. Stephen Beard, 37:21. 27. Tai Thomas, 43:56. 28. Richard Morgan.
Women: 1. Katrina Crumpler, 22:09. 2. Tallulah Kinkead, 23:15. 3. Rosmond Johnson, 23:56. 4. Clare-Louise Whiley, 24:42. 5. Kay Reddy, 25:24. 6. Sally Blackmore, 25:50. 7. Natasha Ruscheinski, 26:22. 8. Anna Kinkead, 26:26. 9. Philomena Robertson, 26:50. 10. Richie Paul, 27:05. 11. Zoe Bickerton, 27:24. 12. Juliane Potgieter, 28:31. 13. Ghislaine Hoogendijk, 28:52. 14. Barbara O’Neal, 28:57. 15. Katy Morley, 29:49. 16.= Amity Hill and Liberty Fletcher, 30:02. 18= Emily Abrehart, 30:19. 18= Jenni Dobie and Clair Burke, 30:30. 21. Li-Ann Yap, 30:34. 22. Pippa Dabbs, 30:42. 23. Roslyn Gilbert, 30:58. 24. Anya Rhoden, 35:53. 25. Jahde Boisgirard, 41:48. 26. Belinda Dabbs, 42:04.
Power Walking. Women: Sophie Bennett, 40:07. Men: 1. Gerald Rose, 39:35. 2. Zebalon McLean, 39:39. 3. Robin Tattersall, 53:32.
Overall Rankings. Men: 1. Guy Williamson. 2. Maxford Pipe. 3. Ravi Sukhu.
Women: 1. NiMade Oniaish. 2. Rosmond Johnson. 3. Claire Louise Whiley.
