Ballantyne back to winning ways

After a drought at the top of the podium in regional road races, distance runner Pamenos Ballantyne returned to his winning ways with a triumph in record time in the Anguilla half marathon last Sunday.{{more}}

Ballantyne broke his own record, clocking 1 hour 13 minutes 31 seconds, shaving off one minute seven seconds off the old mark set in 2007, as he out ran the other 117 starters.

Second was American Mark Hickson in a time seven minutes slower than Ballantyne’s. His time was one hour 20 minutes 58 seconds.

Antiguan Arthur Nuffington clocked one hour 25 minutes 18 seconds to round off the top three finishers.

Ballantyne told SEARCHLIGHT from Anguilla last Monday afternoon that his participation in the Anguilla race was made possible through the financial assistance of British American Insurance and, specifically, Insurance Executive George Frederick.

Ballantyne, however, now turns his focus to the longer version, the marathon, this weekend, in the Run Barbados series.

Last year, Ballantyne had to settle for fifth in the 26.2-mile event. He also placed fourth in the 10K.

Ballantyne, a previous marathon and half marathon winner in the Barbados series, said he also has his eyes on a return to the Trinidad and Tobago marathon next year, an event in which from the mid 1990’s he earned his stripes as the region’ s top distance road runner.

Other Vincentian athletes are expected to journey to Barbados for the series, which comprises the marathon, a half marathon and a 10K race. (RT)