Athletics: Eco-Healing Seychelles Marathon |08 January 2009

Like last year, the energy sapping 42.195km race, reserved for males and females of 18 years old and above, will start at Beau Vallon (Regatta site) at 6am.

The competitors will head to the Eden Island round-about via the northern coast – Glacis and Anse Etoile. They will then run along the Fifth June Avenue and Bois de Rose Avenue. On the way back to Beau Vallon, they will follow the same routes.
The time limit to complete the marathon is five hours – two less than last year.

The marathon winners – male and female - will each get US $500, a week accommodation for two persons at Sunset Beach Resort on half-board basis, a return ticket to any destination served by local Airline Air Seychelles, a medal, a T-Shirt and a certificate.

The other prizes for the marathon are: US $400 (runner-up), US $300 (third place finisher), US $200 (fourth place finisher) and US $100 (fifth place finisher).

There is also a possibility that the top five finishers receive other prizes depending on the sponsorship the organising committee gets.

For the first time, there will be a half-marathon (21km) race and the prizes are as follows: R2,000 (winner), R1,500 (runner-up), R1,000 (third place finisher), R700 (fourth place finisher) and R500 (fifth place finisher).

All competitors of the half-marathon race have to reach the finish line within the time limit of 3 hours 30 minutes. They will head to Machabée and back to the starting point at Beau Vallon.

For the 10-km race, the male and female runners will compete in three age categories – junior (12 to 20 years old), senior (21 to 39 years old) and master (40 years old and above).

The cash prizes for all three categories are the same: R1,000 (winner), R600 (runner-up), R400 (third place finisher), R300 (fourth place finisher) and R200 (fifth place finisher).

The competitors will run towards Glacis and will make a U-turn just after the old Vista Do Mar hotel to head back to Beau Vallon and they should reach the finishing line inside two hours.

Seychellois, residents and foreigners can register for the races. For Seychellois and residents, the registration deadline is February 5, while foreigners have until January 31 to register.

The registration fees are: US $40 or  €30 for foreigners and R200 for Seychellois and residents for the marathon (42.195km) race, US $30 or  €20 for foreigners and R150 for Seychellois and residents for the half-marathon (21km) race, and US $20 or  €15 for foreigners and R100 for Seychellois and residents for the 10km race.

Individuals, work organisations and schools who would like to compete must register with Giovanna Rousseau on 722333.
Athletics director Rousseau described the first Seychelles Marathon as successful if not for some minor details.

“Overall, I’m quite satisfied with how everything went. The only major concern is the traffic. For a Sunday morning, traffic flow was quite heavy in Victoria and some drivers don’t cooperate when they see runners running on the road. I fear that if there were more competitors in the marathon race, there could have been an accident,” Ms Rousseau told Sports Nation after the race held on Sunday February 24, 2008.

Altogether 330 runners registered for the full marathon and 10-km race but 225 finished after some did not turn up.
Seychellois Simon Labiche cruised to victory in the men’s marathon in a time of 2 hours 41 minutes 25 seconds (2h41:25), relegating Brian Wirtz  into second position (3h14:13).

The other male marathon finishers were Frederic Paul-Claude Milhet (France, 3rd in 4h18:40), Jo Gap Lae (South Korea, 4th in 4h24:30), Sylvain Daniel (France, 5th in 4h41:55), Lewis Alexis (Seychelles, 6th in 5h20:10), Han Hyun Woo (South Korea, 7th in 5h42:34) and Jeong Dong Chang (South Korea, 8th in 5h49:40).

The female marathon winner was South African Joanne Elizabeth Jones with a time of 4h09:45 and South Korean Lee Sang Sook was second with 4h52:24.

The national marathon record of 2h25:48 is being held by Albert Marie and he set it on October 23, 1988.

The Eco-Healing Seychelles Marathon is organised by the Seychelles Honorary Consul in South Korea in conjunction with the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB), the National Sports Council and Creole Holidays.

G. G.