By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE fifth annual Bains and Grants Town Dr Bernard Nottage Family Fun Run/Walk concluded on Saturday with Jeffrey Cooper and Mario Coakley as the overall winners.

Cooper and Coakley were the respective winners of the walk and run held to and from the Southern Recreational Grounds during the early morning hours in honour of the late Dr Nottage, the former Member of Parliament for the twin constituency of Bains & Grants Town.

“It was a good experience for my first time. I didn’t know it was that long and it required that much work,” said 19-year-old Cooper, who is a member of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force.

“This was my first time doing it. The route was kind of long, but I didn’t think about it because it seemed kind of short. 

“But I hope to be back next year to defend my title.”

Current MP Wayde Watson said since the inception of the event, they have seen an increase of the participants, although they would like to have more participants from the community.

“Every year it’s getting better and better,” Watson said. “We had representation from all of the armed forces that Dr Nottage would have been in charge of as the former Minister of National Security, with the exception of the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

“We know that they just had a change in the leadership and they are going through their transition. But all of the other forces showed up and Mrs Nottage was very pleased with the turnout.”

Watson said as long as he serves as the MP for Bains & Grants Town, he will continue to honor his predecessor, but his only wish is that more members of the community would come out and show their appreciation.

Portia Nottage, the wife of the late Dr Nottage, said she’s seeing the growth of the event  and she’s happy that her husband’s legacy will live on.

“I’m just disappointed that the residents of Bains & Grants Town don’t see the need to participate,” she said. “Nevertheless, we had a great event and it’s growing.”

She thanked Watson and his community for their support in staging the event every year.

Sean Bastian, who heads the steering committee for the event, said it was more than they had anticipated.

“What I’m hearing is that the route is a very scenic one and for the first time, they are able to see things differently from driving in their cars,” Bastian said.

“So we will continue with this route and to see what we can take out or add to it moving forward.”

Race coordinator Sean Bastian said he was quite pleased with the turnout.

“We were able to award first place winners in each category their first place trophies,” he said. “They all seemed very excited and pleased with their performances, so I would say that we did extremely well this year.”

Bastian said while they were able to change the route and the participants enjoyed it, so they hope to continue with it.

Nurses from the Fleming Street Clinic conducted health screens on the participants and a raffle, featuring the grand prize from Aliv, took place. 

The winners in the various categories of the walk and run are as follows:

Female walkers

17-and-under winner - Kaydence Dennis.

20-and-under winner - Jeymani Humes.

40-and-under winner - Eyromo  Mackey.

60-and-under winner - Willamae Cooper.

61-and-over winner - Stephani Johnson.

Male walkers

20-and-under winner - Jeffrey Cooper.

40-and-under winner - Kevin St Vil 

60-and-under winner - Deon Davis.

61-and-over winner - Larry Bodie.

Overall walk winner - Jeffrey Cooper.

Female runners

20-and-under winner - Shaniah Forbes.

60-and-under winner - Denise Oliver.

Male runners

20-and-under - Chavargo Munroe.

40-and-under winner - Mario Coakley.

60-and-over winner - Edward Frazier.

61-and-over winner - Warren Bain.

Overall male run winner - Mario Coakley.