Event
Preview

There
will be lots of excitement this weekend when the annual Intertrust
Cayman Islands Marathon, Half-Marathon and 4-Person Relay happens
this Sunday, 8 December starting at 5am on the waterfront. The
public is encouraged to come out and support this great charity event
which raises funds for the Cayman Islands Cadet Corps and the Cancer
Society as well as other organisations such as Jasmine, Crisis
Centre, CCMI and Red Cross.

At
the time of writing, organisers confirm 89 full marathoners, 693 half
marathon entrants and 86 teams entered for the relay, and the usual
flurry of last-minute entries is yet to come! This year the race is
expected to grow in numbers with about 100 new registrations expected
on the day before the race, which attracted over 1500 runners in
2018, and is celebrating its seventeenth (17th)
year. Between visiting runners, their families and supporters the
race is bringing over 450 visitors to the island, according to
organisers.

The
Kids Fun Run, sponsored by MILO and the Ministry of Youth &
Sports, will start at 10:30am at the new Government Administration
Building on Elgin Avenue and end just past the finish line on the
corner of Cardinall Avenue and Harbour Drive. This event is free for
students between the ages of 5 and 11 years old and is expected to
bring in 300 kids.

The
level of corporate support for the event is continuing to grow each
year as companies and organisations such as Health Services
Authority, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Kirk Supermarket, Ernst &
Young, CUC and sponsors Intertrust and BritCay all pay for their
staff to participate.

The
top three male and female marathoners and half marathoners in the 29
and under, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59 and 60 and over age categories will be
awarded for their achievements. The top three teams in the
corporate, all-male, all-female and mixed relay competitions will
receive awards sponsored this year by Bedell Cristin. The CUC High
School challenge relay event will also receive awards.

“It’s
our 17th
year, and every year keeps getting better. The support we receive
from the community, our sponsors, volunteers, local runners and
overseas runners – some who fly here every year just to run our
race or volunteer – is overwhelming,” said Rhonda Kelly, Race
Director. “This event is so inspirational and at times so
emotional. We are just thrilled to be a part of the triumphs and
powerful moments that a lot of our local and visiting runners will
experience this Sunday. We count it an honour to be a part of their
stories.”

Marathon
Stories

• Last
  year Michael Doherty from Massachusetts ran a full marathon in Maine
  on his birthday which is 8 December. The temperature was 1 degree
  Fahrenheit with a wind chill that made it well below zero. His wife
  asked if his next full marathon adventure could be on a sunny beach,
  and so he’ll be celebrating his 50th
  birthday in the Cayman Islands;
  
• 
  BOB FM morning talk show
  host Taylor Vaughn will be completing her first half marathon after
  a very eventful year which includes losing 129 pounds!
  
• 10
  years ago, Casandra Barnett from West Bay did the half marathon for
  the first time with one of her best friends. She figured doing it
  again this year would be a good way to celebrate that accomplishment
  so she will be lacing up on 8 December;
  
• Luis
  Sanchez Sr. and Jr. will be running the half marathon together.
  Father and son are both retired military veterans from the US Army
  and US Marines respectively. Luis Jr. lives in Grand Cayman and Luis
  Sr. will be visiting from Puerto Rico. They will be joined by Luis
  Jr’s 17-year old son Elian;
  
  
• Queensland,
  Australia native Amanda Barlow will celebrate her birthday on 8
  December. The Intertrust Cayman Islands Marathon will be her 60th
  full marathon on her 60th
  birthday. She started running full marathons when she was 49-years
  old; her first was the London Marathon and since then she has run 59
  marathons in 17 different countries around the world, including
  Antarctica and 5 Boston Marathons. She can't wait to celebrate her
  birthday and her marathon milestones in the beautiful Cayman
  Islands;
  
• This
  will be Charlotte Mlynar’s 5th
  Cayman half marathon. She was joined in the first two by her dad.
  Sadly, he passed away last year so this race will be for him, said
  Mlynar who is from Monroeville, Pennsylvania;
  
  
• “I
  came last year, and Grand Cayman summoned my soul to come back. This
  race is special because of the local volunteers!” – Dena Prater,
  Spring Valley, California;
  
• Twin
  sisters Yvette and Yvonne Carter from Maryland, USA are back to run
  the half and full respectively. Yvette ran the half in 2018 on a
  bet from Yvonne. She has struggled with congenital spine and eye
  problems, and the complications of untreated hypothyroidism for most
  of her life. With support from her mother, twin and friends who she
  considers family, she has persevered and accomplished things that
  many said she could not. Her sister Yvonne has been the first
  female marathon winner for the past two years and was hoping for a
  “three-peat” but now battling a stress fracture she’s hoping
  just to finish;
  
• Katie
  Correia will be running the half marathon for the Central Caribbean
  Marine Institute (CCMI). “The "Reef Relief Squad" is
  running for a cause close to my heart. I've never been as passionate
  about anything as I am about taking care of our home planet and more
  specifically our oceans. They truly are the life blood of this earth
  and without healthy oceans, we couldn't survive here. I am running
  for my health, for the health of the planet, and to spread awareness
  about green issues that every single person can truly have a
  positive impact on. After all, there is no plan(et) B.”;
  
• Kurt
  McKenzie has been on a weight loss journey since 5 August 2017 and
  has gone from 311 to 199 pounds as of August 2019. He walked the
  half last year and now he is going to run it hoping to show even
  just one person that nothing is impossible;
  
• Sharon
  Ogden from Oklahoma has always wanted to visit Cayman and can’t
  think of a better reason than to run a half marathon;
  
• Surena
  King has been coming to Cayman to run the half for seven years. She
  loves running early and in warm weather and considers Cayman her
  winter escape from the temperatures this time of year in Maryland;
  
• Darren
  Raiguel from Virginia will be completing his 89th
  full marathon overall since 2009. He’s run a marathon in all 50
  states and all Canadian provinces. He started doing countries in
  2019 and Cayman will be his 7th
  country;
  
• Cayman
  resident Kelly Fiebig has participated in 11 of the 16 marathons,
  doing either the relay or half marathon. She took a break in 2018
  to have twins and now she’s returning;
  
• Beth
  Florek, who has won the full marathon six times, will return to the
  road after two years
  
• Robyn
  Larkin who supports the event every year by running and volunteering
  will be running the full marathon in honour of her mother who died
  of brain cancer in 2018;
  
• Cayman
  resident Wanda Rice’s mother was always very active, running full
  marathons, climbing mountains and doing triathlons. Then she was
  diagnosed in 2010 with stage four lung cancer. As she was
  recovering and being treated, she asked Wanda and a childhood friend
  they would run a half marathon with her "when" she got
  better. In 2011, in celebration of her remarkable spirit and
  recovery, the three ran their very first half marathon and have
  continued running at least one per year since. Still in remission
  and at 76 years old, Wanda’s mother will be running her first
  Cayman half next to her daughter.
  

Organisers
are asking for the public’s cooperation during the race by keeping
traffic along the race route to a minimum, and in particular those
people who live along the route are being asked to secure their dogs
in their yards, and turn on their Christmas lights if they have any
from 4:30am on the morning of 8 December.

The
race starts at on the George Town Waterfront, by Sharkeez Bar &
Grill and goes through South Church Street, South Sound and Old
Prospect Road, after which runners turn around and go back through
South Sound and then onto Walkers and Hospital Roads, Elgin Avenue,
Edward and Fort Streets and back to Breezes.

Late
registration for the 2019 Intertrust Cayman Islands Marathon, Half
Marathon, 4-Person Relay, CUC High School Challenge and Kids Fun Run
can only be done at the Westin Resort’s Galleon Ballroom on
Saturday, 7 December during Packet Pick Up from 9am to 3pm.

The
Intertrust Cayman Islands Marathon is a Kelly Holding event and is
sponsored by Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, Ministry of
Sports, BritCay, Compass Media, Health City Cayman Islands, Milo,
Gatorade, BOB FM, FastSigns, Cayman Airways, Bedell Cristin, Massive
Group, Kelly Holding, eCayTrade, Cayman Islands Brewery, The Westin
Grand Cayman, CUC, Cayman Physio, Sharkeez Bar & Grill, GNC,
Mike’s Ice, Bliss Living Yoga, Quaker, Cost-U-Less, Smoothie King,
Hopscotch Productions, Explore Events, Netclues and CINICO.

For
more information, visit www.caymanislandsmarathon.com,
email info@CaymanIslandsMarathon.com
or call Bev Sinclair on 623-8825. Follow @CaymanMarathon on Facebook,
Instagram and Twitter.