Pamenos Ballantyne beaten again

The 2005 OECS NemWil Half Marathon was hosted by the Antigua Athletics Association on Sunday, October 30.

The race lived up to its billing. Within a mile from the start, the guns had taken the lead along with Andre Gutmore, the Jamaican male runner participating in this event for the first time. It wasn’t long however before Pamenos Ballantyne and Zepherinus Joseph took control of the race as the two runners strode away from everyone.{{more}}

At a pre-race interview Joseph said that if it came to a sprint to the finish, he believed he had a better “kick” than Pamenos and would win. They were side by side, stride for stride approaching the capital of Antigua, St John’s. As they turned into Long Street the “kick” was revealed and Joseph strode away from Ballantyne, entered the Antigua Recreation Ground and crossed the finish line victorious in a time of 1 hour, 10 minutes and 15 seconds, Ballantyne the eleven-time winner, was second, and St. Lucia’s Victor Ledgers took third place.

The ladies also pushed each other to the finish. However, Jamaica’s Arietha Martin was first, Antigua and Barbuda’s Jeanelle Williams second and Latoya Joseph third.

The race started at

7 a.m. giving the runners a little extra challenge as the morning sun rose over the scenic course. From the Carlyle Bay Hotel, runners went along the coastal road, through the valley road and ended at the Antigua Recreation Ground.

This year there were athletes from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the OECS Member States.