IOW 2011 Falklands heads held high in Half Marathon

The first event of the Nat West Island Games on the Isle of Wight was the Half Marathon, which saw the Falkland Islands team acquitting themselves well against a field that included some runners, of international standard, like Guernsey's Lee Merrien, the eventual winner in a time of 1 hour, 8 minutes and 36 seconds.

The race got under way at 9am and while the weather was warm, a covering of mist and even a slight breeze mercifully prevented the temperature from soaring to the heights predicted by the weather forecasters.

Like the Stanley marathon course, this one which started at the Sandown High School Sports complex, involved several loops and returns, giving spectators plenty of opportunity for spurring their teams on without the necessity of travelling far. Unlike the Stanley course, however, there were some steep and challenging inclines.

First home for the Falklands, but outside his personal best because of the hilly nature of the course was South Georgia Government's Martin Collins, with a time of 1hour,26 minutes, 31seconds. Martin said that perhaps he had begun too quickly, but then settled down to a steady pace which allowed him to finish strongly in a creditable 23rd place, out of the thirty-four entrants in the mens' race.

Not far behind Martin Collins in 28th place was veteran runner, Rex Eagle, who completed his marathon with the words, “That's number 100 out of the way.” Rex, who recorded a time of 1 hour, 32 minutes, 28 seconds, expressed the hope that he would be able to do it all again for the Falklands in the next Island Games.

Representing the Falklands again in this event is also the ambition of the rookie member of the Falklands team, 23 year old Zoran Zuvic, who afterwards spoke of how he had been spurred on by the many Falklands spectators watching the event. Zoran's time for the course was 1 hour 42 minutes, 6 seconds, but the strength of his finish showed that he still had plenty of running left in his legs and with more experience can hope for great improvement in the future.

Unfortunately, due to other distractions, the team for Falklands television missed Zoran's storming finish the first time round, but obligingly, with the permission of the race officials, he was able to run the last 100 yards again, for the benefit of the cameras and the viewing public in the Falkland Islands.

Wistfully observing the race with the many other Falkland Islands supporters, including former Governor Alan Huckle was veteran Stanley Marathon runner Hugh Marsden. Also maybe itching to trade his shoes for trainers was the present Governor and experienced marathon man, Mr Nigel Haywood.

While the Falklands team will not be figuring in the medal ceremony, those of us privileged to be present at this gruelling event, left buoyed up with the achievements and the pride that our team so obviously displayed in representing us.