Feb. 6, 2005 – Some things in life can only be done once. St. Croix resident Teddy Seymour, a four-minute miler, national cross-country champion, Quantico Marines track star, Captain in the U.S. Marines, Vietnam veteran, captain of the sailboat Love Song in which he became the first black man to sail around the world alone, knows what it takes.
Some people like to repeat themselves. In the V.I. Pace 19th annual Toast-To-The Captain 8.4-mile road race, a V.I. Pace Runners Black History event to honor Captain Seymour, a few good runners repeated their performances on one of St. Croix's coolest mornings of the year.
George Jules took first place for the second year in a row in 49:32, almost two minutes faster than last year and in a competitive field of runners that included two-time Olympic marathoner Calvin Dallas (second in 51:25, a minute faster than last year) and four-time Olympian Marlon Williams, both top masters runners.
Early on, a lead pack including Jules, Dallas, prep runner Juan Robles and Williams cross the mile mark at near 5:40 second pace. At Southgate and the first aid station, Jules had opened a small lead over Dallas who had separated himself from Robles (third in 52:01, a whopping 10 minutes faster than his 2003 time) only by a narrow margin. That was the order of finish for the top three medals, with Williams taking fourth in 53:03 and prep star Hansel Estepan finishing fifth in 56:17 for his first try at long distance.
Tish Dusich and Theresa Harper have also "been there done that." They finished one-two Saturday with times of 61:07 and 62:43 respectively as they matched their first and second place finishes of a year ago. Tesha Distad ran the race for the first time and took third place in 70:31; Earthla Augustin was fourth in 71:00; Louise Stapleton was fifth in 73:36 and Patricia Brown sixth in 80:22.
The Male Finishers:
1. George Jules 49:32;
2. Calvin Dallas 51:25;
3. Juan Robles 52:01;
4. Marlon Williams 53:03;
5. Hansel Estepan 56:17;
6. Paul Erickson 60:40;
7. Mike Klein 62:21;
8. Gunnar Sanden 66:04;
9. Bruce Daugherty 69:18;
10. Angel Morales 70:08;
11. Errol Chichester 71:44;
12. John Harper 71:46;
13. Mark Kennedy 72:45;
14. Larry Williams 76:36;
15. Rey Lutz 76:59;
16. Mike Hall 85:56.
The Female Finishers:
1.Tish Dusich 61:07;
2. Theresa Harper 62:43;
3. Tesha Distad 70:31;
4. Earthala Augustin 71:00;
5. Louise Stapleton 73:36;
6. Patricia Brown 80:22.
The next race on the V.I. Pace Runners calendar is The annual Flight 64 Four Mile Road Race on Sunday, March 13, at 6 a.m. For information and entry form call 643-2557 or logon to virginislandspace.org or virginislandspace.com.
Editor's note: This article was supplied to the Source by Wallace Williams of V.I. Pace Runners.