As the Virgin Islands makes the transition from cross-country to road running and track and field seasons, the first road race of the year is the Children Race. The 27th annual event, an 800-meter jaunt down King Street on the route of the parade, took place in Frederiksted and as is the traditional kick-off the annual Crucian Festival Children’s Parade.
Valence Modeste of the St. Croix Track Club and a winner of a number of the elementary cross-country races was the first place finisher in the race with a time of 2 minute 17 seconds. Mikaela Smith, also of the St. Croix Track Club, had an impressive performance; she was just a few 100ths of a second off the race record set by Evelize Gomez and the first place female finisher in 2:21, and she was second overall.
In the 6 to 9 year-old age group, James Beck (2:45) of Freewill Baptist and Michele Smith (3:03) of the St. Croix Track Club took the honors; in the 1 to 5 year-old age group, Collin Appleyard (3:50) and Serena Sheraw (5:05) were the winners.
For complete results go to http://virginislandspace.org