While Sebastian Sawe’s men’s world record at the London Marathon has captured headlines, Saint Lucia also celebrates a new women’s marathon record. Yvette Adair completed the race in 3:24:23, surpassing Ava Fevrier’s 3:48:41 from London 2025 and retaining the national record for Dennery.
Adair, 43, completed her fifth marathon and her first since 2018. She previously ran the London Marathon in 2016 and 2018 while serving with the British Army. This performance marked a significant improvement over her earlier results. Now a reserve soldier and full-time chef, Adair continues to run for the army and told St Lucia Times that increased free time enabled her to train more seriously.
“When I got to the UK, being a full-time soldier, I wasn’t really interested,” she shared. “I didn’t really push myself until I left the full-time army, and that’s when I started enjoying it a bit more. In the full-time army, I think then because my job was so hectic, I was always so busy. I didn’t really have the opportunity to do much of it until I left the army, and I was given the opportunity to do it, and I was very good at it, so they kept pushing me further and further.
“I trained harder, and I was representing the army. My past marathons, I did it because it was my personal choice. I was doing it for myself, but this one, even though I was doing it for myself, I was representing the army, so there was more pressure on.”
Born and raised in Dennery, Adair moved to the UK at the age of 18, close to 26 years ago, to join the Royal Logistics Corps. She told St Lucia Times that although she ran at Clendon Mason Memorial, she did not make much of an impact at the secondary school level. Now, she’s enjoying village life again, living in Bulford and working on the nearby army base.
In addition to cross-country running, cross-country skiing, and mountain climbing, she returns home each summer for Carnival and a Piton hike. In 2025, she completed the Three Peaks Challenge, climbing Gros Piton, Petit Piton, and Morne Gimie in a single day. However, her primary passion remains running, whether on the track, road, or cross-country.
“I love running. I think I’ve been running from like infant school all the way to secondary school. When I joined the army as a full-time soldier, I was still running, but I wasn’t really into it until I came off full-time and joined the reserve. That’s when I really got into running,” she said.
“I just love running. I just love fitness… I think when I go out running, I am in a different zone. I’m in my own world, and I just meditate and … I just enjoy doing it.”
Nearly 60,000 participants completed this year’s London Marathon. Adair finished 8,086th overall, 1,528th among women and 228th in the women’s 40-44 age group. She is already planning for next year and intends to work with a professional coach.
For now, with encouragement from her sister, Adair said she looks forward to connecting with the Saint Lucian road-running community, including Six Star Marathon medallist Fevrier, Che Odlum-Vivenot, and Olympic runner Zepherinus Joseph.
(TF)
