Clif Struiken (171), Julius Farley (13) and Matthew Harkness (147) were the top three finishers in the Ceres Juices 10K Series race on Beef Island on Saturday, July 15, 2017. Photo: Dean H. Greenaway aka 'The Sportsman'

Struiken covered the course that meandered its was from the beach, past the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport, with a turnaround at the entrance to Mininnes Plants and a trek across the bridge to Tortola and return, in 35 minutes and 29 seconds. He was followed by Julius Farley in 36:53 and Matthew Harkness was third in 39:29. Reuben J. A. Stoby overhauled Mark Stephenson on the last 50m to claim the fourth sport in 39:53 to Stephenson’s 39:57.

Kathrarina Barton was the top woman, covering the course in 51:07 and was followed by Kim Struiken in 51:33. Katrina Lindsay who won the first race of the series and was twelfth overall, placed third in 51:52.

Battle between Farley & Struiken

“It was a good race and I loved the course but it was a bit tougher than I expected,” Struiken said. “I expected it to be flatter. This is the first time I ran it but I think I did well. Julius stayed close to me for a long time so I think after the summer I have to be careful when there are more hills because he’s a strong runner in the hills so I have to work on that to make sure I’m ahead of him because he was really close today.”

Farley said he wasn’t feeling strong in the early part of the race.

“I just kept pushing and tried to keep close to Cliff for as long as possible because I knew Reuben (Stoby) who lost the first race, I know he would come back this time for revenge but I know by keeping close to Clif I would have held him off.”

The course, Farley said, is one that he likes. “Just the finish on the beach, man that’s tough,” he said. “But, it’s beautiful.”

Stoby said he had been resting his injured Achilles tendon and hadn’t been training as he used to.

“It didn’t really trouble me today, but it’s amazing how fast I’ve lost form,” he noted. “I was trying to keep up with the second pack and I wasn’t even able to do that. Luckily I had a little bit of sprint and I was able to overtake one person at the end. But I’m happy with my run today. And, it was a fast race by Clif and Julius. I have to give it to them. That was quite a run.”

Final Results

Men: 1. Clif Struiken, 35 minutes and 29 seconds. 2. Julius Farley, 36:53. 3. Matthew Harkness, 39:29. 4. Reuben J. A. Stoby, 39:53. 5. Mark Stephenson, 39:57. 6. Guyp Dubois, 43:16. 7. Derek Rawlins, 43:26. 8. Adrian Dale, 46:19. 9. Shane Donovan, 51:20. 10. Dorian Cabezus, 52:12.

Women: 1.  Kathrarina Barton, 51:07. 2. Kim Struiken 51:33. 3. Katrina Lindsay, 51:52. 4. Rosmond Johnson, 52:13. 5. Karen Frazer, 52:17. 6. Gillian Plaxton, 53:12. 7. Melisande Rowe, 53:32. 8. Kay Reddy, 55:43. 9. Karinna Stead, 57:32. 10. Natasha Ruscheinski, 59:04.