Welshman Steve Speirs, by way of Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA, took the top spot in the Intertrust Cayman Islands Marathon in just under three hours. Sunday’s race was the third for Mr. Speirs in Cayman. He has come in second five times.
“I ran my own race and managed to win. It’s not like I’m an elite runner or anything,” he said.
Mr. Speirs, 50, finished in 2 hours, 58 minutes and 48 seconds, followed by 33-year-old Ali King of South Sound in 3:09:05. Another local runner, Mike Ridsdale, 46, finished third, in 3:31:07.
Mr. Speirs ran and won his first Cayman Islands marathon in 2009, and has kept coming back for the annual December run ever since.
He said he ran a shorter race during a vacation in Grand Cayman in 2008 and decided to do the marathon the next year.
He now runs ultramarathons, races that are 50 to 100 miles and can take more than 24 hours to complete. “I still enjoy shorter races too,” 5K, 10K and half-marathon races, he said.
He enjoys returning to Cayman for the race.
“Over the years, we’ve gotten to know the runners who do the race every year. It’s always nice to reconnect with those folks,” he said. “It feels like a hometown race.”
Mr. Speirs said he makes a vacation out of the marathon, coming to Cayman each time for a week to 10 days. “We came a week early to get used to the heat this year,” he said.
He said a friend from Virginia joined him on the course this year, adding, “I think we’ve got a few more lined up to come next year. It’s a really good event. We are keen to share.”
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