By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

TYRONE Brown and Zachary Young emerged as the walk and run champions of the fourth Bain and Grants Town Dr Bernard Nottage Fun Run/Walk race held on Saturday.

The free-for-all event, designed for the constituency where Wayde Watson serves as Member of Parliament, attracted a number of competitors from the various armed forces in the country, especially the Royal Bahamas Police Force and Royal Bahamas Defence Force as well as some of the track teams.

On hand to greet the participants as they crossed the finish line, where they started the early riser at the Southern Recreation Grounds, was Portia Butterfield-Nottage, the wife of the late Dr Bernard Nottage, the immediate past MP for BGT.

“Mr Watson came up with the idea and he spoke to me and I thought it was fitting because BJ was a sportsman,” his wife said. “He was involved in a lot of organisations that dealt with sports, so I thought it fitting.”

She expressed her gratitude to all of the organisers and the participants for helping to keep her husband’s memory alive.

Watson said he was delighted to stage the event in recognition of Dr Nottage, who would have touched the lives of so many people during his era as their MP and even in his involvement as a Minister of the Government and an advocate for sports in the country.

“From my perspective, this was a good way to memorialise his legacy,” Watson said. “So I want to say thank you to the armed forces. We had participation from just about every one of them and we had some participation from some of the track clubs as well. So I want to thank them.”

Sean Bastian, the organiser of the event, said he was impressed with the turnout as well.

“I feel with a fun run/walk, it’s very challenging for people to get up that early, especially those persons who are not used to walking or jogging that early in the morning,” he said. “But I was quite satisfied with the turnout. We did a very good fun run walk and health screening and we provided fritters and souse, so it’s still a work in progress.”

Tyrone Brown, the winner of the walk race, said despite the fact that the course was too short, he was happy that he was still able to clinch the overall victory. “I was happy that I came out here and competed,” he said. “I enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun, but it was just too short. By the time I got warmed up, I was getting ready to cross the finish line,” he said. “It was still a lot of fun. I enjoyed it.”

Another one of the participants, James Simmons, representing the Bahamas Correctional Institution, said it was a lot of fun competing in the event. He emerged as the divisional winner of the men’s 59-age group category in the run.

“I think the event is an excellent way to help develop your mind, body and soul,” he said. “Even though the run was short, I enjoyed it and next year, we will definitely have a bigger crowd of prison officers participating.”

Nurse Alkeitah Colebrooke conducted the health screening with nurses Joycetina Conliffe and Earlene Munnings as they conducted blood pressure and glucose testing.

“What we do is we look at the numbers and we give advice and, if any numbers are out of whack, we will inform them of what to do,” she said.

Results of the top three finishers in each race: Walkers - 1st place Tyrone Brown; 2nd place William Seymour; 3rd place Vance Ferguson. Runners - 1st place Zachary Young; 2rd place Trevon Brown; 3rd place Bryant Ferguson.