Magalhaes, Cole take Fidelity Series titles

By Cayman Sports Buzz
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Updated: 25 September 2018

Victor Magalhaes and Tiffany Cole were the 2018 Fidelity Fun Run Series Overall Winners.

Tiffany Cole and Victor Magalhaes took home the hardware as the overall winners of the Fidelity Fun Run two-mile series on 22 September.

Magalhaes had his work cut out for him in the finale of the three-race series, as Gregley Gayle, who had earlier finishes of 5^th and 2^nd, turned in his best performance of the series and crossed the line first in 10 minutes 17.8 seconds after pulling away as he neared the finish on Denham Thompson Way.

Michael Smikle of Mustang Track Club, a rival of Magalhaes on the track, also beat him down the stretch to finish in 10:23.4. Magalhaes was third on the day in 10:29.8, his slowest time over three races but it was good enough to earn him the overall title.

“It was a very tactical run. I ran in a group throughout the whole course and it unfolded quite unexpectedly for me but it was a good race,” the 18-year-old said.

When asked if this was a sign that he needed more work on his finishing speed, the 345 Athletic Club runner responded: “For now, I’ve been focusing on building an aerobic base and I haven’t touched any track stuff. I think when track season comes around, I believe I will develop for better finishing performance.”

Gayle finished second overall, with Andrew Keast third. With the top-three overall excluded from their age-group standings, Smikle took the top spot among males 15-19 years.

Meantime, there was no stopping Tiffany Cole. The 21-year-old cruised to her third win in as many races to seal the overall female title, crossing the line in 11:51, her quickest run of the series.

: Gregley Gayle was 2nd overall male

: Ava Hider was 2nd overall female

“I feel really great about this performance. I managed to replicate what I did last week. I went out a couple of seconds faster in my first mile. I was looking good and said ‘you got this Tiff, just carry it to the finish line’ and I managed to do that,” the national 800m record holder told CaymanSportsBuzz.com.

Her teenaged 345 Athletic Club teammate, Ava Hider, was second in each of the races. Her time in the third was 12:10.1 Triathlete Nadine Grey was third on the day with 12:47.7 and ended the series in third place overall.

Nearly 200 athletes turned up for the race each week. Bringing a large number was Mustang Track Club. Head coach Tyrone Yen described the series as a perfect way to get his athletes, particularly the younger ones, conditioned ahead of the track season.

Runners of all ages laced up their trainers each week.

“It creates a lot of aerobic capacity for the young athletes, most of them who have started training just a week or two now. It increases their lung capacity and it also increases their chance of going through the season with less injury,” he said.

“All in all, I think it is very beneficial for them. They have run well, most of them have had personal bests each week, so it has helped them, and it will help them throughout the season to set a better foundation for them.”

See the final results and the detailed standings here.