Jan. 17, 2005 – On Sunday The V.I. Pace Runners completed the 20th annual Martin Luther King Fort-To-Fort Memorial Run, a 25-kilometer (15.5-mile) run from the Fort Christiansvaern in Christiansted to Fort Frederik in Frederiksted. At 6 a.m. a small group set out before sunrise on the endurance run which took them along many of the roads slaves used to toil in labor for colonial powers.
Participants in the run included: Leopold Fredericks, native son of Frederiksted and favorite runner of the students at Claude O. Markoe Elementary School where he is a school monitor; George Jules, a top V.I. long-distance runner; Dr. Marlon Williams, chiropractor and vice-president of the V.I. Olympic Committee; Todd Newman, noted V.I. attorney and triathlete; Roger Hatfield, world-known boat-builder and endurance athlete; Ray Lutz, Wall-To-Wall Triathlon organizer; Win Thomas, nationally-ranked age-group triathlete visiting from Vermont; Patricia Brown, longtime V.I. Pace Runners volunteer and Wallace Williams, founder of V.I. Pace Runners.
The runners completed the run in about two hours each — for a total of approximately 20 hours total running of a combined total of about 125 miles.
The event is listed as an official activity of The 2005 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Celebration Calendar of Events of Raleigh, N.C., and continues to be supported by the V.I. Delegate to Congress and has received mention in Congress as such. Participants will receive certificates signed by Delegate Donna Christiansen.
The next event on the V.I. Pace Runners Calendar is the 19th Annual Toast To The Captain 8.4-Mile Road Race at 6 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 5, in Christiansted. For information and entry form logon virginislandspace.com or virginislandspace.org, or call 340-643-2557 or 777-0258.