Adrian Frater/Gleaner Writer
Western Bureau:
Kemar Leslie of Rainforest Caribbean and Dandie Williams of Pacers Running Club emerged the toast of Sunday’s 2026 Jill Stewart MoBay City Run, running away with the coveted male and female 10K titles, before the largest number of contestants in the 10-year history of the event.
The 38-year-old Leslie, who finished second behind Kamar Thomas in last year’s staging, turned the tables on Thomas this time around, running away with the event in 34 minutes and five seconds. Thomas was second in 36:04, Winston Dehaney took third place in 36:34.
Thirty-two-year Williams, was quite impressive in taking the female title, clocking 45:05, which was a fraction slower that the time Tonya Busse ran when she took the title last year. Shania Fraser ran a distant 54:39 to take second place; while Jana Novikova was a mere footstep behind Fraser, taking third place in 54:40.
In the 5K run for men Garfield Gordon of UCT Steppas successfully defended the title he won last year, albeit his time of 15:59 was slower that the 15:34 he ran then. Royale Gordon, also of UCT Steppas, finished second in 16:34, while Jahvon Williams was third in 16:44.
“I feel really great, I came out this morning to defend my title, and I am glad I did,” said Gordon. “I wanted to run a faster time, but I am grateful for the win.”
In the 5K female, Maldon High School student Tracy-Ann Vernon, who represented Barrett Immigration, outlasted her teammate Neisha Geddies, winning the event in 23:09. Geddies took second place, ahead of Jahmellia Allen, in 24:37. Allen clocked 24:39.
“I am feeling great because I knew I could win … I felt that energy from a week ago,” said Vernon, who said that with a kilometre to go, she felt like stopping because the heat was getting to her. “I told myself that I cannot stop, so I kept on pushing through and I won … I am on cloud nine now, I feel great.”
In the 5K walk, Carlene Wallace of Dufflebody365, emerged the top female, covering the distance in 34:02, beating Sherena Gray of Rainforest Caribbean (34:35) and Nidia McFarlane of Island Routes (38:42) into second and third places, respectively.
In the male 5K Walk, Duwell Allen, who reported to the event unattached, won in 24:59. Jawanza Dennis of National Pen Jamaica took second in 28:47, two minutes ahead of Rainforest’s Robert Gray, who covered the distance in 30:49.
In responding to the turnout and the quality of the performances, Janet Silvera, the founder/coordinator of the event, was overwhelmed, saying the event has now firmly cemented itself as a truly international event.
“I am overwhelmed, we had participants from all over the world and the future is looking quite good, I can only see bigger and better going forward,” said Silvera, who started the event to raise funds to help needy students to achieve their scholastic dreams. “Once the new roads open (the MoBay Bypass), we are looking at expanding it into a half-marathon. I am hoping that the Jamaica Tourist Board will come on board, because this event has the potential to become a major sports tourism event.”
While the victorious participants naturally captured the spotlight, the event had many other special highlights, as some mothers did the 5K walk pushing babies in strollers, while female wonder, 86-year-old Gerline Nelson, again demonstrated that for her, age is just a number, covering the 5K run in 43:10.
Photo Caption B3 (Main) Dandie Williams: Dandie Williams (left), the winner of the female 10K run, collects her winners’ plaque from Janet Silvera, chairman of the Jill Stewart MoBay City Run.
Photo Caption B3 (Main) Denise Campbell: Denise Campbell (left), of Liberty Business, presents Kemar Leslie, of Rainforest Seafood, with his plaque for winning the 10K at the Jill Stewart MoBay City Run.
