August 17, 2004 – The V. I. Pace Runners has released its running calendar for 2004-2005, and it is available on its Web site http://virginislandspace.org for review. Listed are all the running events organized by V.I. Pace in St. Croix along with those for St. Thomas/St. John. These runs are designed for runners of all ages and levels of fitness. This is the 26th edition of the calendar.
The season starts with the running of the 21st Annual Fort-To-Fort Relay Road Race on Sunday Aug. 29.
"While competitive, the activities are for fun and fitness," according to Wallace Williams, Founder of V.I.Pacer and Olympic Marathon Runner in the Seoul Olympics.
Although the numbers of participants varies, the idea is for runners to begin regular training by running the shorter distances and then the longer ones. The longest events on the calendar are the 30th Annual Virgin Islands Half-Marathon on the Sunday following Thanksgiving and the 4th St. Croix International Marathon on New Year's morning. The Half-Marathon again will be held on the North Shore Road on an out-and-back course. For the first time the marathon will be held in Frederiksted. Williams is designing a flat course, which will be certified as a qualifier for major marathons such as the Boston Marathon, New York City Marathon, Chicago and the World Championships.
Runners training for the marathon are encouraged to join the St. Croix Road Runners www.stcroixrunning.com , a St. Croix group in its second year that trains primarily for the marathon event. Last year several of the runners trained for and completed the Los Angeles Marathon, in addition, some of the runners ran in the Boston Marathon. The group meets on Saturday mornings at Cheeseburgers in Paradise in Southgate and on Tuesday afternoons at the St. Croix Educational Complex High School track.
Included in the calendar also are cross-country runs which are held at the University of the Virgin Islands St. Croix Campus. The runs are open to all and encourage children of all ages to participate in a series of runs on Wednesday afternoons from one to 3.1 miles. This year plans are to expand to Saturday mornings for 4 H club members as a way of promoting fitness and health to family members.
The V.I.Pace Runners is a member organization of the Virgin Islands Track and Field Federation, the governing body for track and field, road running, cross-country, running, race walking and mountain running for the Territory. Runners who are eligible and qualify have the opportunity to compete on a V.I. national team.
For more information contact the Virgin Islands Pace Runners at 777-0258 or 643-2557 or logon to the Web sites linked above.
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