First Sandals 10K for St Lucia in November

The race will start in front of Sandals Halcyon on the island’s north-western coast and head further north to end at the Sandals Grande on the world renowned Pigeon Island causeway.

Leading runners throughout the Caribbean have been invited to take part with an approximate field of 300 expected to face the starters. Registration for the race starts today at strategic locations and at all three Sandals properties.

Runners will compete in three categories — an Open category, a category for Masters Over-45 (men) and over-40 (women), in addition to a junior category. All categories will have prize monies at stake.

"Sandals have been wanting to sponsor a road race for sometime. We are really delighted now this is off the ground and well underway," Konrad Wagner, general manager of Sandals Grande, told the press during a launch of the race.

He added: "We felt for a while St Lucia was the ideal place and we hope that it means, in the long run to tie in with other Caribbean Islands to host similar events. If it works out well it could become a permanent feature on the road racing events in the Caribbean, in the Eastern Caribbean in particular."

The St Lucia Athletics Association will be administering the race and its first vice-president Gregory Lubin said they were determined to put on a successful event.

He said invitations were extended to sister federations in the Caribbean - from the Bahamas to Guyana.

"The vision of the AA is to work with Sandals to develop the Sandals to Sandals 10k and to ensure it becomes a permanent fixture on the sporting calendar of the Caribbean," Lubin announced.