It may have been a bit premature,but love was definitely in the air around Grand Harbour on Sunday afternoon, 12 February.
Cupid was not scheduled to shoot his arrows for another two days, but participants in the Valentine’s Mile were more interested in the spirit of celebration that surrounded the event than to the actual calendar date.

Red and white decorations and apparel adorned the area and the crowd of merrymakers.Sponsors Kirk Freeport and Cartier outdid themselves in providing Valentine theme-related gifts for top performances and a cornucopia of random awards to grateful recipients.

The organizing team from Race Caribbean,with the assistance of members of the Cadet Corps,the Red Cross, staff from the sponsoring institutions and other community volunteers conducted the activity in fine fashion, and the organizers expressed their gratitude to all involved in the large turnout for the benefit of Hedge Funds Care Cayman.

When action got underway, an aerial view would have portrayed a serpentine line of persons stretching over quite a long distance-some running hard and fast, some enjoying a recreational run or walk, some really getting into the emotional mood as they traversed the distance hand-in-hand.

Competitively speaking, the action was fast and furious,with leading performers finishing in close order.Marius Acker showed his versatility and ability once more, as he led the nearly three hundred persons in the feature event across the line in a time of 4:47,with Jonathan Shillito at 4:56 also breaking the five-minute barrier.Ray Welds barely held off a late surge by Tristan von Kirchenheim,passing under the finish banner a single second to the fore,as the pair were accorded marks of 5:08 and 5:09.

For the ladies, it was another instance of a second’s spacing as Claire Critchley nipped Tiffany Cole for top honours–5:35 to 5:36.Third place was decided by an even closer margin as Emily Davies was given the nod over Tracey Walker as both were credited with 6:15.

A highlight of the festivities was the shorter distance run by more than fifty participants under the age of 12, with all finishers receiving medals, which they wore with pride.

A number of those persons taking part who were designated as couples were happy to be chosen as the winners of of random prizes which were theme-related.

Judging from the numbers on hand as participants and spectators and the enthusiasm generated by all on hand, it would seem that everyone will be invited to Run for Love again next year!

Additional awards were distributed to fastest finishers in youth age groups:

Under 12              Male                             Female
1.Finn Bishop                   1.Kalie Broderick
2.Rowan McLean              2.Kiara McKiernan

12-13            1.Dominic Dyer                1.Madison Miranda
2.Dwight Lawrence

14-16            1.Tahj Lewis                    1.Tiffany Cole
2.Jamie Montero