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CCNTV6
  • 2 years ago
Come Sunday over 1600 runners will face the starting line of the UWI SPEC Half Marathon and 5K races. The Half Marathon is expected to be a fast one with distance runners having their fair share of races during the year to build up to the event. That said, local runners are eager to face off to see who prepared best.
Transcript
00:00 The U.S. back half marathon returns and it brings with it local rivalry as the
00:05 list of top distance runners in the country continues to grow. Keron Ali has
00:10 shown that he deserves to be considered as a top contender in Sunday's race
00:14 after taking down some of the top local runners by placing third in the South
00:19 American 10k. He seems to be getting a strategy right in the weeks leading up
00:23 to his races. Leading up to the U.E. half marathon this year I would say my
00:27 preparation has been great. It's more so especially coming from Guyana with the
00:32 third place in the South American 10k. I mean we're just a week in between U.E.
00:37 just doing some maintenance work and now we're just tapering down for the
00:42 final stages. In racing anything could happen and in Guyana that's what
00:47 I took the most from it. I was very much prepared. The heat and stuff and the
00:52 different environment bothered a lot of the guys and their running style and
00:56 some some things just seemed to suit me. I mean it was my birthday on the day too
01:00 so maybe something was looking down on me but the biggest thing I took away was
01:04 always be prepared and you never know what could happen in racing. Meantime it's
01:08 a chance for Colin Pereira to show he has returned to the form which saw him
01:12 run a 2 hour 40 minutes and 49 seconds marathon back in 2020. He has been
01:19 struggling for 2023 and he may be even feeling the pressure for this race
01:23 after he did not completed the South American 10k. Yeah I have no problem
01:28 going all out. I have a what I say in my head is to have no fear in any race.
01:35 So no matter the pace in the race I go at it. No matter the competition I will run at
01:40 whatever the opponent decide on the day whatever pace so that's the goal.
01:45 The changes I've made is I've put in place like proper hydration so I would have a
01:50 bite man on the morning to make sure I'm properly hydrated. Yeah so it's more about
01:56 getting in more electrolytes more salts into the body focusing more on what I'm
02:00 eating and being more careful what I'm eating per se so that will be changes I
02:05 have made from Guyana to now. He has set a target of one hour ten minutes to
02:10 complete the race and is hoping to go even further if his body allows it.
02:15 Christopher Mitchell will also be a contender in the race and he is aiming
02:19 to complete the marathon in one hour 12 minutes and perhaps pull off a surprise.
02:23 Well my mindset going in for the UEA half marathon is I'm more a relaxed person.
02:29 I do try not to overthink the race you know but I want to give my best
02:35 foot forward and I'm gonna make it easy for my opponents. I see myself as a
02:41 dark horse in the race also because it have other athletes who have faster
02:45 personal times than me but I do really care about that I know I put in the
02:52 work and I'm gonna get my best foot forward. Brian Maynard continues to coach.
02:57 He has a few athletes in the race and he's given each of them a plan. My
03:02 approach from this race I will say for any of the athletes who I will have
03:06 under my wing is have a very calculated approach not all out guns blazing
03:11 because I will find yourself in a lot of problems when it turn around to come
03:16 back up the road so I prefer that the athletes have a much more calculated
03:20 approach and they could pace themselves as they move along through the race.
03:23 The UEA spec half marathon begins at 5 a.m. on Sunday. Sergio Dufour, TV6 Sport.
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