JEDDAH, 15 January 2008 — Nearly 50 participants were at the start line for the annual Binzagr CoRo 6km road race held on the outskirts of Jeddah.

The conditions were ideal for the late afternoon start, and temperatures nearly perfect for some excellent performances in the last race in the Jeddah Road Runners season prior to a mid-season interval.

On behalf of the company’s merchandising manager, Tue Simon, the sponsors and representatives from the brand drink, Suntop, were on hand to commence the race, which had been expertly marked by club committee members Al-Jufri and Doman.

In the absence of top club runner Bernardie, the main competition to the youngster Al-Harbi was occasional visitor Al-Shamrani.

Although the two were always ahead of the others, by the second turn (after two kms), only a few seconds separated the top five, and even the distances between them at the finishing line weren’t too great.

A keen battle for top spot was won by Al-Harbi who, with youth on his side, is one of the two favorites for the season championship along with Bernardie.

After her exertions recently in the Beirut marathon where she finished fifth overall in the ladies division, and with the after-affects of a cold, Vermaak did well to finish just over a minute behind the winner.

Second in the ladies division was also another expert long-distance runner, Engelbrecht, who had started her day on a ‘training’ run of over three hours. Joining her on that training run was Al-Subhi, who not unnaturally, finished some time behind the others in his normal top five position.

In third place behind Vermaak and Engelbrecht was Leach, a relative newcomer to the club and yet another predominantly long-distance runner.

A strong wind in the first half of the course kept the times on the low side. However, there were some creditable performances in the veterans category, with visitor Long edging out Doman by only 4 seconds for 8th spot overall. Bandu easily won the seniors category, with long-time club member, Zebedee, in second position. Several new faces did well, including Rommel, Hozin, and Shalali.

All the runners were refreshed and revitalized at the post-race BBQ with the brand drink Suntop, which was distributed by the company’s representatives, Andy and his team.

The deputy club chairman, Aljufri, thanked Binzagr Co-Ro again for their excellent support for the running community over the past few years, and for the product and give-aways that were given to all the runners.

Overall winner:

AlHarbi (23.00)

Ladies: 1st — Vermaak (24.18); 2nd – Engelbrecht (28.50); 3rd – Leach (29.50)

Open: 1st — AlShamrani (23.22); 2nd – AlYamani (23.50); 3rd – AlSubhi (25.18)

Veterans: 1st — Long (26.27); 2nd – Doman (26.31); 3rd – Baghaffar (27.46)

Masters: 1st — McIvor (23.29); 2nd – Alkhaibari (30.77); 3rd – Magalong (38.07)

Seniors: 1st — Bandu (31.35); 2nd – Zebedee (35.29); 3rd – Tip (37.16)

Junior: 1st — Aljufri (38.36)