Dec. 28, 2006 – The Virgin Islands Pace Runners announced today that the 5th International Marathon (Millennium Marathon) on Jan. 1, the annual Children Race on Jan. 5, and the 3 Kings Mile Road Race on Jan. 6, are set to start the New Year on St. Croix. The St. Croix Marathon, which has the distinction of being the first marathon in the world run in the new millennium and the only one in the world held on the first day of the year and open to international runners, starts at 5 a.m., at Plaza Extra in Frederiksted. It continues to the Vincent Mason Pool back through the historic town of Frederiksted to Hamm's Bluff and back to Frederiksted with a one-mile jaunt in Mahogany Road and a second trip to Hamm's Bluff and finally down Strand Street to the finish at the spot where the emancipation of slaves in the Danish West Indies took place and the newly redeveloped waterfront.
The field is limited to 50 runners for safety reasons. They will compete for $2000 in prize money and include some of the top marathon runners in the Caribbean, such as two-time Olympian Pamenos Ballantyne of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Jose Rodriquez of Puerto Rico, winner of this year's V.I. Half-Marathon. Local runners will include: Theresa Harper, Ruth-Ann David (winner of the V.I. Half-Marathon this year, who will run her first marathon), top master runners Ernest Mitchell and Richard Jeanpierre; tri-athlete Lloyd Henry and others. Billy Bohlke, returning last week from active duty in the U.S. Air Force as a pilot in Afghanistan, has expressed interest in supporting the race by training through it because he has had limited time to train over the past year.
Children 13 and under get the chance to start their competitive year going in the annual Children Race, which is the first activity for the Children's Parade. It will start at the corner of King St. and Fisher St. and ends at Fort Frederik in front of the parade review stand. The annual 3 Kings Mile will start at Claude O. Markoe Elementary School and will also finish at Fort Frederik. This race is open to runners of all ages.
The sponsors of the marathon include: Plaza Extra, West Indies Corp. Aquafina and Gatorade, Joel Holt Attorney At Law, Bohlke Airways, HH Tire and Oliver Exterminating. The events are sanctioned by the Virgin Islands Track and Field Federation and organized by the VIPR with support of the Government of the Virgin Islands Department of Housing Parks and Recreation and of the Virgin Islands Police Department.
For information call 643-2557 or logon to: http://virginislandspace.org
