Leaders of the pack: Half-marathon winner Kavin Smith, Glenn Tucker

If you believe the after-race banter of Kavin Smith and Otis Robinson they 'jogged' to first and second place respectively in the annual Bermuda Track and Field Half-Marathon yesterday.

The road race combatants certainly had plenty of energy in reserve after the 13.1 mile event to engage in a lengthy and heated debate about the merits of GPS measurement devices and the accuracy of American 5K courses.

On the road, where it is the legs that do the talking, it was reigning champion Smith who 'talked' with the most authority as he clocked one hour 15 minutes and 42 seconds, while Robinson reached the finish line in 1:19:10.

The women's race was dominated by Victoria Fiddick once the opening miles were out of the way. She ran an impressive 1:26:27 to beat Dawn Richardson, who lost ground around the halfway point but finished strongly in 1:28:54.

As usual the half-marathon featured a compact field of runners who had made the trek to St. George's for the point-to-point race that finished at the Bulls Head car park in Hamilton.

Having run two 5K races in the previous week, the most recent last Thursday, Robinson was still in 5K running mode when he blasted away from the start line and quickly vanished into the rising sun.

The question was whether anyone would be able to chase him down in the coming miles. A quick scan of the chasing pack revealed reigning champ Smith as the most likely candidate, and so it proved.

It was not until Kindley Field Road that Smith pulled past Robinson and took control. By the end of the race, there was a three-and-a-half minute gap between the two runners.

Within the local running community Robinson has become a talking point as much for his improved race times of late, as for a number of reported mile splits in 5K events in the USA, which he has logged with his wrist GPS device.

Some have questioned the accuracy of the satellite-measured splits, and there is no doubt anomalies exist, though Robinson has the splits saved on his GPS as proof and believes inaccurately measured courses in the US are a factor.

Whatever the truth, Robinson and Smith engaged in a good-natured debate on the subject and appeared to agree to settle the matter in a local 5K race in the new year.

Continued on Page 23

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