(Oranjestad)—One of the biggest sporting events on the island took place Friday night as runners were preparing themselves to embark on their toughest marathon race yet. Coupled in groups of 2 or more—some even went solo—over 700 runners tracked the marathon route stretching around 72 KM around the entire island.
Signaled by the sound of the starting pistol—set off by the prime minister of Aruba, Evelyn Wever-Croes, runners began their journey for an all-night run around the island. Starting at 8pm, the marathon began and ended at the Marine Barracks (Marinierskazerne) in Savaneta.
Singles and teams ran the route that stretched along the coast lines of Aruba, starting from Savaneta through San Nicolas, and going up to the northern coasts, passing through the Arikok National Park, Natural Bridge, Light house, down-town area and back to the starting point in Savaneta. The event lasted until the early hours of Saturday morning.
The Ronde van Aruba is the biggest marathon held on the island, and it sees regular runners from different athletic groups, companies or just friends and family. For this year’s event, there were 13 categories, all dedicated to either single runners, duo, teams, companies and more. The winners for this year’s Ronde van Aruba marathon is as follows:
| SINGLE | Jordi Fransen—05:52:10 |
| DUO MEN | ViperStrong Duo (Jesus & Luuk)—06:02:37 |
| DUO WOMEN | Vack&Sanz (Monica & Pauline)—06:22:51 |
| DUO MIX | Brinkie & the Brain (Monica & Jerwin)—05:54:54 |
| RELAY 120 YEARS AND UNDER (GROUPS) | Team Bestial (Juan, Paul, William, Richard)—04:56:20 |
| RELAY 121 TO 160 YEARS | Super Food (Luis, Jurrien, Ruliano, Efij)—04:50:44 |
| RELAY 161 TO 200 | Bolero (Junior, Michael, Kel, John)—05:27:48 |
| RELAY 202 AND HIGHER | Pensionados (Rigoberto, Junior, Herman, Giovanni)—05:48:54 |
| RELAY WOMEN 16O AND UNDER | Amazonas (Kiara, Misha, Anna, Alena)—06:48:46 |
| RELAY WOMEN 161 AND HIGHER | Bestial Girls (Shohaira, Jouraime, Yessayray, Jackie)—06:12:11 |
| RELAY MIX | Falcons (Rebecca, Lana, Andre, Kevin)—05:03:24 |
| MILITARY | UKNL (Andrew, Andrew, Jacob, Jamie)—05:13:57 |
| PARTNER (OF RONDE VAN ARUBA) | Frisian Flag (Nahir, Rowalski, Israel, Randy)—06:14:06 |
Picture credit: PatrishiSports.
