North Side, Grand Cayman, June 21^st, 2021] – More than 100 people turned out on Sunday 13^th June in support of the first-ever Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park’s (QEIIBP) fundraising 5K. Organisers are pleased with the show of support received by the corporate and sporting communities with approximately CI$10,000 raised which will benefit the Park’s Children’s Garden, currently still under development. 

“Congratulations to all the top finishers. We had 146 participants and we are proud to offer a new event that by all accounts, was a fun and pleasant race for all involved,” said Tourism Attraction Board (TAB) Director, Patrick Thompson.

The overall winner and first back to the finish line was Marius Acker with a time of 19 minutes 45:82 seconds. Wes Heistand crossed the line second with a time of 20 minutes 47:13 seconds, just ahead of Adam Leak 21 minutes 29:04 seconds who snagged third overall. 

The fastest female finisher was Jess Ormond with a time of 25 minutes 14:48 seconds, second and third over the line for the women were Emmaculate Mutuku and Caroline Warnock-Smith with times of 27:22.71 and 28:26.39 respectively.

Mr. Thompson, who ran the race himself, was pleased to have the support of His Excellency, Governor Martyn Roper and Minister of Tourism, Hon. Kenneth Bryan. “It’s encouraging to see the level of support the Park received in our inaugural 5K event, including Governor Roper and the honourable Minister taking part,” expressed Mr. Thompson.

Botanic Park General Manager, John Lawrus notes the both the Ministries of Tourism and Sports were the main event sponsors and participants were delighted that staff of the Department of Tourism along with Sir Turtle himself, came out to cheer on runners along the race route.

“We are grateful to all our sponsors for not only providing monetary support, as well as raffle prizes but also being on hand to ensure snacks and treats were available and to manage fun activities like the Sportista photo booth, and Sir Turtle which added a level of excitement,” said Mr. Lawrus.

As an added bit of fun, participants were asked to celebrate the Queen’s Birthday holiday by creating a fancy-dress Royal Fascinator, the winner of the ‘Best Fascinator Design’ trophy was Tracy Ebanks with her Cayman Flag design.

“A big thanks to R Craft House for providing the fascinator award and all the race medals at no cost and we are doubly grateful to Coca-Cola for providing the water, sports drinks and additional equipment, which allowed for additional cost savings,” he added.

The TAB and Botanic Park also offer special thanks to RCIPS officers and Cayman Islands Red Cross volunteers who offered support in maintaining the safety of the runners and to the Water Authority who allowed spill over parking for participants at their North Side facility.

A complete listing of the race results/times can be seen on Race Caribbean’s website https://racecaribbean.net/botanic-park-5k-2021/. 

To learn how you or your company can donate to the Children’s Garden project kindly email [email protected] or call 947-9462.