Not sure I’ve ever written a Cayman Islands Marathon Race Recap, but first a bit of background info. After winning the Breeze Fusion 2 Miler in November 2008, I remember being interviewed by one of the local journalists who asked if I’d be running the marathon the following month. Two trips to the Caribbean in 5 weeks would have been a bit of a stretch, but somewhat jokingly, I did agree to come back one day.
[blockquote align=”none” author=””]One day, I’ll definitely come back to do the Cayman Marathon![/blockquote]
Fast forward 6 years, and somewhat amazingly, I find myself lining up at the start line for my 6th consecutive Cayman Marathon.
The race takes place on the first Sunday in December every year. The marathon starts at 5am in George Town, the capital of the Cayman Islands. The run takes you along the waterfront of George Town, then along the residential area of South Sound which boasts multi-million dollar homes and spectacular views of the ocean, then onto Old Prospect Road to Prospect Point which is designated as the turnaround point. Heading back to town you take a slight detour through the residential area of Walkers Road, before returning to the Start/Finish area at the Breezes By The Bay restaurant. Half marathon runners finish here, full marathon runners head out for another fun loop.
Setting my goals at the beginning of a typical year, I never class the Cayman Islands Marathon as a high priority A-race. I’ll always run my best, but it’s never going to be a PR kind of event due to the warm weather conditions. To maximize work vacation time we flew out to Grand Cayman a full 10 days before the race this year, which would also allow for some heat acclimatization and much needed lazing around on the beach. I managed to run every day, but it was more a question of keeping my legs ticking over than cramming in last minute workouts. The daily runs were also a good opportunity to figure out shoes, apparel and fuel strategy for race day.
The day before the race we checked out of our home-from-home Reef Resort located on the north east of the island to check into the host hotel on Seven Mile Beach. When a race starts at 5am, the last thing you need is a 45 minute cross-island drive to get to the start line! Packet pickup was a good chance to chat with several of the locals we’ve met in years gone by, and we also took advantage of a great presentation by Bart Yasso of Runner’s World fame. To round off a busy day, dinner was my usual burger and fries at the excellent Craft Food & Beverage Company, accompanied by a rather tasty Rogue Mocha Porter.
Race Gear:
Thankfully, marathons are much easier to prepare for than Ultras, so apparel and shoe selection was pretty straightforward. Tailwind Nutrition would my main fuel source, but I also stashed a pack of Island Boost in my shorts pocket just in case I needed an extra boost in the latter miles.
- Skechers GOrun 3
- Injinji RUN 2.0 Original Weight No-Show Socks
- Tailwind Nutrition
- Island Boost
- New Balance Singlet & Shorts
- Garmin Forerunner 620
Just like clockwork, all 3 events – the marathon, half marathon and 4-person relay – started bang on time at 5am. Last year’s winner Justin Grunewald had signed up again, so I figured the win was out of the question unless he had a really bad day at the races, and aside from British adventure athlete, journalist and filmmaker, Tobias Mews, I really had no idea who I was up against. Therefore, the plan was quite straightforward – stick to my initial goal of breaking 3 hours with the hope of keeping the rather trivial streak of running a sub-3:00 marathon in each of the last 10 years. If things felt good at halfway I could always pick up the pace, so the most important thing was to be patient and stay within myself.
Pacing in the dark is always a bit tricky, so it was no surprise when I hit the first mile marker in 6:27 – way too fast and an immediate signal to slow things down. Justin wasn’t too far ahead at this point, and with Tobias not far behind him, I realised it would be suicidal to attempt to stay with them. Back off Steve before it’s too late! Of course there were also numerous other runners ahead – some of them half marathon runners, and some no doubt taking part in the relay event. Potentially there were marathon runners in front too, but at this stage of the race in the darkness, it was pretty difficult to tell.
I ran much of the first half of the race with Brit-living-in-Cayman, Conrad Proud. I’ve got to know Conrad a bit over the last 3 or 4 years, and one thing that’s guaranteed; he always runs a strong, steady half marathon. Splits for the next 5 miles were between 6:45 and 7:00 minute miles, which felt quite comfortable and allowed for some good conversation. My legs wanted to go faster, but I kept telling myself there was still a long way to go, and to be patient.
At the 6.4 mile turnaround and first relay exchange point, Justin was already about 3 minutes ahead, with Tobias trailing Justin by a couple of minutes. I couldn’t quite make out the other runners (aside from Marius Acker, the half marathon leader), so I just focused on keeping the pace the same on the way back to the Start/Finish area to end the first loop. Mile 7 was a bit quick (probably due to the excitement of the relay exchange), but the rest of the first loop splits were all pretty close – 6:45 to 6:53. Somewhat predictably, Conrad picked up the pace at around Mile 11 to close out his race with a 4th place overall finish, leaving me with some solo time to assess the situation and regroup a little bit.
It’s always a great feeling to arrive back in George Town to end the first loop, but there’s also the knowledge you have a tough 13.1 miles ahead of you with the sun coming up and rising temperatures. The crowd support at the Start/Line is fantastic though, and it’s almost like their energy forces you out on the second loop. I crossed the halfway mark in just over 1 hour 29 minutes and was announced as the 4th place marathon runner – a little bit of a surprise as I figured there were only 2 guys ahead of me; Justin and Tobias. No worries, I was still well on track for the sub-3:00 which was the main goal of the day.
Heading out of George Town I was a bit surprised to see Tobias just 30 seconds or so up ahead. I didn’t quicken my pace, but by Mile 15 I’d bridged the gap and it was nice to chat for a minute or two about our races. I wished him well and got back to thinking about my race. A bit further up the road it was great to see Ally closing out her first loop of the marathon. Despite the heat she seemed to be enjoying herself and looking good.
I pressed on and before long was at the 19.5 mile mark and the turnaround at Prospect Point. Justin was now 8 minutes ahead, but thankfully, there were no other marathon runners in front. So, with just over 10k to go to the finish, it was all about staying strong, enjoying the course and maintaining a steady fuel intake. The latter stages of this race are always tough – with so few marathon runners on the course it’s always a bit lonely, and more like a time trial than a race – but thanks to my conservative early pacing I was able to close out pretty smoothly with 7 splits between 6:35 and 6:45/mile to cross the line in 2nd place in 2:56:53.
So, mission accomplished with my 6th consecutive Cayman Islands Marathon – I managed to run a negative split race and maintain my 10 years in a row of running a sub-3:00 marathon. Of course, 2nd place was also a bit of a bonus to keep my Cayman Marathon podium streak going too!
So, what keeps pulling me back to the Cayman Marathon each year? Well, aside from the island being a perfect get-away-from-it-all vacation, the race runs like clockwork, has a fantastic community feel and takes place in a stunning location. So many other events seem to focus on quantity rather than quality, so the fact you can park your vehicle within 100 metres of the start/finish area and chat with the Race Director is just really cool. The enthusiasm of the spectators and volunteers is hard to match too, thanks in part to the fun, yet super-competitive “Best Water Stop” contest held each year. Basically, the Cayman Islands Marathon is great value, and combined with a wonderful vacation location, is the perfect way to round off the year.
To close, special thanks to The Reef Resort for the perfect pre-marathon vacation location, and also to Ritchie of So-Chlo Surfwear who was able to cram in some last minute professional singlet printing for Ally and myself. See you next year for #7!
Great write-up/Recap to your race! Well done!