JEDDAH, 15 March — Jim Leavitt trounced the rivals in the annual SIGMA Paints 7kms race in the Jeddah Road Runners season recently. A very infrequent visitor, Jim has been in the Kingdom for a number of years; nevertheless, he showed the more experienced club runners a clean pair of heels winning very comfortably in 27.25.

The cool conditions of the early morning resulted in some good race times. Approximately fifty to sixty meters separated the second and third places, being filled by Randy Thomson and Wahid Doman respectively. For end-of-season honors, Doman is slightly ahead of Thomson at the points table, and the forthcoming last two runs in the club’s calendar, promise to result in an exciting duel between the two for top veterans spot.

The veterans category produced seven of the top nine finishing positions. Norman Gibson, in his first full season, also promises to be one to watch out for in future years, and he was well ahead of sadly out-of form club runners Jaubert and Esma. The open category was closely contested, and Salah Bagafar narrowly failed to produce an upset, being pipped at the finishing line by Bagatan by a small distance. Osarna Afif is also coming back to form and he completed the course in a good time of 32.37.

A big cheer greeted club member from Madinah, Harry Mediavillo, who, once again, was top Masters, with Smarn Hongto second and club favorite Dave Zebedee a comfortable third. There was only one visitor in the A category and R. Blonk ran a steady race and easily completed the course in 43.16. Other notable runs were made by Huw Lewis, just recently returned from his exploits in the Luxor 22kms, and a welcome return to Pat Browne rejoining his club comrades for the early morning runs.

The trophies were presented at the post-race reception on behalf of Sigma Paints, who were thanked for their continuing support to the running community here in Jeddah. The club expressed their appreciation for the contribution made by Sigma over the past many years, and hoped that this will continue in future seasons.

Results:

Winner: Jim Leavitt (27.25).

Open: 1st H. Bagatan (29.20); 2nd: S. Bagafar (29.36); 3rd: O. Afif(32.37).

Veterans: 1st R. Thomson (27.47); 2nd: W. Doman (28.12); 3rd: N. Gibson (29.04)

Masters: 1st H. Mediavillo (32.55); 2nd: S. Hongto (34.21); 3rd: D. Zebedee (37.43).

A Category: R. Blonk (43.16).