Here on St Barts Island, we have a race that occurs every year, much like the Americans with their Boston and New York City Marathons, except not nearly as long. Our 10k Gustavialoppet takes place in November and celebrates the island’s Franco-Swedish friendship (thus the name).  Both residents of St Barts and those of Swedish residence take part in this race every year.

The overall winner of this year’s race was familiar with the spotlight, as he’s won the race the two years prior to this; Eddy Romil of Guadeloupe crossed the finish line in just 34 minutes and 45 seconds, just two minutes ahead of the second place runner, Myriam Benchabane of Saint Barth.

This race is not for the faint of heart and those who run it, train extensively beforehand. The terrain is hilly and the island is hot, which is why the race begins at 7:30 in the morning.  I am never on the island for the race, but I hear it is quite an event.

St Barts Island :: Runners at the starting line of Gustavialoppet :: courtesy of corossol.info

A word to those of you who visit the island and like to have a daily run; you should only do so during the early morning hours.  As I’ve said, the air is warm here and the terrain of the island is hilly. In addition, there is far too much traffic on the winding and hilly roads to running safely on the the side.

St Barts Island :: Gustavialoppet Runners :: Photo courtesy of corossal.info