( L - R ) Wainard Talbert and Tamica Thomas
LION HEART TRACK Club's Wainard Talbert and Tamica Thomas of G.C Foster College head Jamaica's team for the 2005 Central America and Caribbean (CAC) Half Marathon Championships set to be staged as part of tomorrow's Reggae Half Marathon event in Negril.
Teams from Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts, Martinique, Jamaica and Guatemala will compete for a $64,000 cash prize. Talbert will be joined in the male section by Sean Pitter, Hurley Stewart, Phillip Edwards and Rupert Green, while Annmarie Shaw, Nadine Henry and Merrecia James will be Thomas' teammates in the female section.
Certis Cox, who defeated Pamenos Ballantyne of St. Vincent and the Grenadines at the Clico Marathon in Trinidad and Tobago earlier this year, will lead Trinidad and Tobago's charge.
Second place winners in the CAC Half Marathon will collect $48,000 while $32,000 will go to the third place country.
There will be separate prizes for for the individual half marathon winners, which will be $48,000 for first, $25,600 for second and $12,800, third.
Meanwhile, Jamaica's Areita Martin and three-time champion and course record - holder Ballantyne will be aiming to defend their Reggae Marathon titles at the same venue, starting at 5:00 a.m.
The male and female winners will again take home the Bob and Rita Marley trophies and prize money of $96,000.00 each. Second place will walk away with $64,000 and third, $48,000.
In the masters section, the top three prizes are $19,200, $12,800 and $6,400, while in the half marathon the prizes, one to three, are $9,600, $6,400 and $3,200.
Jamaicans will compete for special prizes in the marathon. The overall winner gets $64,000, second, $48,000 and third, $32,000 . The half marathon top three are set to take home $38,400, $25,600 and $12,800.
The high schools section should be hot. Vere Technical, Holmwood Technical, Bellefield High and Manchester High are the top schools.
The top five will take home $64,000, $51,200, $38,400, $25,600 and $12,800.
Race director, Alfred Francis, said things are on target for a great fifth anniversary.
"I am very comfortable with the way things are shaping up," Francis said.
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