Nimarota nails Race II

By Seti Afoa 07 February 2016, 12:00AM

It was a magnificent, hot and humid morning on the Apia Waterfront for Race 2 of the BOC Handigas Run Series. Over thirty runners ran the three distances - 10km, 6km and 4km in order to turn over the miles in preparation for the Savaii Marathon in just over two months (April, 16). 

The winners were predictable, Steve Nimarota of Leusoali’i collected his second 10km win of the Series (44:09); Stuart Young came down a distance from last week to win the 6km race (25:06) and young Gideon Mulitalo, 12yrs, won the 4km run / walk (34:14). 

There were three Nimarota brothers in the 10km race. Steve’s older brother Sam finished second in the 10km and younger brother Apisaloma finished in seventh place. 

The outstanding result of the morning was the third finish in the 10km distance by young Durant Webster. This was the second 10km in two weeks for the 12yr old. 

“I love running 10kms, and I was really happy with my race today.” 

 “Last week I finished seventh, so getting third place this morning feels really good. It’s the first time I have come third in the 10km race.”  Kolani Sekai of Saoluafata was the other pre-teen to run the 10km yesterday. His time of 49:20 was within a minute of Durant’s time. There will be great racing between these two in years to come. 

The verdict is, this flat run was harder than the Falefa hills last week, mainly due to the early morning heat especially when the runners headed east along the seawall to the turnaround point at Cross Island Road. 

That was the view from David Schinkel of Germany who also ran his second 10km race in two weeks. 

“It was definitely hotter than the Falefa Falls run last week. At least then, the hills shadowed us for part of the race. Today, it was full on into the sun for half of it.” 

BOC Country Manager Andy McCallum who ran the 4km race with his family, wife Penny and the three children – Ben, Libby and Abby, also gave a reluctant not the “hot” status of the race. 

“It was hot! But I ran most big chunks of it today,” he said after the race.  

The BOC series by Samoa Events is proving very popular with runners as they begin preparations for the inaugural Savaii Marathon on April 16th. 

That race, will host a full marathon (Lava Fields to Salelologa), Half Marathon (Asaga to Salelologa), 10km (Faga start) and 5km (Lalomalava start). 

There are two more races of the BOC Series. Next race is on 27th Feb. That run is on at the South Coast starting at Lupe’s Beach Fales. 

By Seti Afoa 07 February 2016, 12:00AM

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