OF THE four members of the Gleaner/Reggae Marathon challenge team, The Gleaner's Oral Anderson was the most experienced.
An employee for 14 years, Oral has been running competitively since 1977; participating in over a dozen marathons. He has even raced outside of Jamaican borders in Trinidad and Barbados. He finished in 13th place overall. Despite his experience, things weren't so easy for him.
"Physically, I was okay. But the course was very tough. Going out was fine but coming back was the hard part," he said.
One drawback he saw was that the organisers didn't categorise foreign participants differently from their local counterparts so some local runners like himself were placed lower in their age groups in the final standings. But he's always thinking about 'the road ahead'.
"I want to race in the Trinidad Marathon in January so I'm looking for sponsorship," he explained. If he gets there, it will be his third time there.
