Sports
TurtleCrawlers Not Scared by Chantal
A small matter like a hurricane watch provedno deterrent to those individuals, who gathered at the CaymanTurtle Farm Sunday afternoon, determined to be in the Turtle Crawl.
Come hell or high water or least highwinds, the hardy band of enthusiastic residents and visitors madeready to tour our Northwest Point area of West Bay.
Taking advantage of every opportunity, someparticipants incorporated a free tour of the turtle tanks intotheir warm-up.
It was unfortunate that some less adventurous souls had stayedhome owing to concern about the weather, as it was the consensusof those present was that the absentees missed out on some greatfun.
With one eye on the overcast sky, and theother checking for capricious canines intent on joining the competition,starters took off at a variety of speeds, emulating both haresand tortoises.
Mick Bridgeland (16:07) and Ewan Forrest(16:14) maintained a definitely unturtledlike pace around the2.9 mile run course, as they duplicated their one-two finish atlast month's Retour de Cayman event. Lizann Burbidge showed herheels to the other lady entrants as she completed the tour in28:08.
For those whose primary goal simply to finishthe full distance, all were successful as they adhered to therecreational runner's adage "Start off slow and then taperoff".
Visitors hailed from such diverse pointsof origin as Massachusetts, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma and specialnote must be taken of long-term annual Cayman returnees-the Gaertnerfamily of Atherton, California and the impressive efforts of Chris(age 9) and Ryan (age 6).
All finishers received several souvenirsof the activity, and performance and random prizes were givento outstanding performers.
Kenneth Hydes of the Cayman Turtle Farmconfirmed that the action would take place again next year. Hethanked the major sponsors,Tortuga Rum Company, Dive-Tech andCracked Conch by the Sea. Note was also made of contributionsfrom Gold's Gym, Holiday Inn, Gatorade and Castle Springs Water.
The next event on the Retour de Cayman Seriesorganised by the Phoenix Athletic Club will be the Out to Hell'N' Back 10K on Sunday, 16 September.