The Tribune

FOLLOWING the successful staging of the second annual Shaunae Miller-Uibo Bay Street Mile over the weekend, the sixth annual Kids Athletics Road Race is set for Saturday.

And when the event gets underway at 10am at the Bahamas Hotrod motor car park, organiser Sherry Francis said they intend to take advantage of the enthusiasm being built for cross country.

Francis, who serves as the head coach of Kids Athletics, said participants will get to compete in age groups from under-7 to open in both the male and female categories.

“We put this event on to help with the conditioning of the track and field athletes leading into the track season,” said Francis, one of the country’s former premier female distance runners.

“Over the past couple of years, we have noticed an increase in distance running from the younger kids and so we are trying to encourage them to continue in that area,” she said.

Francis said the Bay Street Mile, sponsored by Miller-Uibo, provided a good yardstick for them to use going into their event.

Saturday’s race from the straw market to the Bahamas Football Association’s beach soccer facility attracted over 700 competitors.

“We had a little boy under nine who won his age group category in six minutes and 59 seconds,” Francis said. “For an eight year old to run under seven minutes for a mile already is awesome. We have to harness these types of performances. That is why we want to continue to hold this event and encourage more athletes to switch from running the sprints to the distance events.”

The event, which has been cemented on the Bahamas Association of Athletic Association’s calendar, is expected to attract competitors from both the schools and the track clubs.

Francis said they also anticipate having a number of competitors, who run in the various local races, to also come out and participate in the event.

“Everybody is looking forward to this event,” Francis stated. “We are expecting at least three to 400 competitors to come out and participate on Saturday. I think there is still a lot of enthusiasm from the Bay Street Mile because some people thought it was longer than they competed, so they want a do over and this is their time. Who wasn’t pleased with what they ran, can improve their times.”

The under-7 competitors will be running a 400 metre race, under-9 will do 800m, under-11 will do 1,200m and from under-15 and open will contest a mile.

David Ferguson, who provided the chip timing for the Miller-Uibo Bay Street Mile, is expected be on hand to produce the automatic timing so that all competitors will be able to view their performance at the end of the event.

Trophies will be presented to the first three finishers in each age group category and the medals will be distributed from fourth to 10th place. Registration will remain open until race day. The fee is $6 per person.