media_artricles :: 2018

London is NAAA one-lap king

Mark London raced away as the winner of the National Association of Athletics Administration (NAAA) Savannah One Lap road race at the Queen's Park Savannah in Port-of-Spain on Sunday.

"I came out today with the intention of winning the Savannah One-Lap and I was successful," said London after the race which started opposite Queen's Royal College. 

The Zenith Athletic Club (Tobago) athlete crossed in 11 minutes and 29 seconds to beat Matthew Hagley of Defence Force (11.31) in a competitive race. In third place was Kelvin Johnson (Unattached) in 11.38. 

"I knew it would have been an intense race," said London, a five-time Carifta Games track and field gold medallist. "I was confident in my training and preparation towards this race so I knew midway through the race once I was on pace over the last 600m to go, I would have the sprint finish to take home the victory."

Filling the other two spots among the top five finishers in the Men's Open category and overall were Sherwyn Stapleton of Memphis Pioneers (11.45) and Nicholas Romany of the T&T Road Runners Club (TTRRC ) in 11.49, respectively.

"I'm known for track so I know any time I was with the pack with 200/300 metres to go, my track speed would kick in and eventually get the win.

"I want to thank my father back at home for the help, coach Gerald Franklyn, the head coach at Zenith Athletics, my friends and family, everyone who came out to support me and have been supporting me thus far, I want to say thank you to all of them.

"Today my body felt great. I responded well to all the attacks against me and I just kept the faith and came out victorious today (Sunday)," said London, who also had success at the Tobago Cycling Classic on the weekend, winning three legs in division three.

In the women's Open category, amazing Samantha Shukla (Unattached) was a comfortable winner, crossing in a time of 13.16 and placed 16th overall. This after winning the RBC 15K earlier that morning.

"The time is my best time but if I didn't run this morning I could have beat up some more guys," said a smiling Shukla, a first-time champion of the event. 

She finished ahead of Abilene Wildcats's April Francis, who was second in 15.27 and third was Chantel Le Maitre (Unattached) in 15.36.

Shukla said, "I'm working towards the UWI Half marathon. My goal is to place in the top two among the women and to run my best time."

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