Jan. 3, 2006 – St. Croix organizers started the St. Croix Marathon on New Year's Day in 2000 to be the first run in the new millennium and they kept up the tradition this year by running the first marathon in the world in 2006.
According to a press release, the conditions this year allowed former Olympian Calvin Dallas to make a comeback to win the 26.2 mile road race with a time of 3 hours 5 minutes and 9 seconds ahead of last year's winner Steve Burkholder who ran second in 3:10.29.
The pre-dawn start at Plaza Extra in Estate Plessen on Queen Mary highway heading west had Dallas breaking away from the small but serious field of marathon runners with the tight group including Burkholder. Lloyd Henry, Mike Klein, Richard Jean Pierre, and Ernest Mitchell in pursuit.
By the five- kilometer mark near the Whim Museum, Dallas appeared to have widened the gap going past the four mile mark in Hannah's Rest only to see his margin shrink as the runners made the turn at Fisher Street and headed for Veterans Drive and the five-mile mark with Burkholder and Henry determined to make it a three-man race. Still dark, the runners still couldn't enjoy the
beauty of the water front course until later as they made their way to the newly renovated Vincent Mason Pool. The return to town, past the seven-mile mark, saw Burkholder close the gap on Dallas as both of them headed down King Street for the Hamm's Bluff turn-around.
For the next eleven miles the two ran stride for stride until Dallas pulled away at around mile twenty on his second trip to Hamm's Bluff. Battles for the remaining positions and the prize money awards of $5000 in total no doubt influenced Klein, Henry, Jean Pierre and Mitchell as they switched positions as the race progressed with Klein moving from sixth to third in 3:17.50, Jean Pierre from fifth to fourth in 3:31.04. Lloyd Henry took fifth place 3:40.47, Ernest Mitchell was sixth in 3:44.34, Allen Buckingham was seventh in 4:47.58 (his first marathon), Leopold Fredrick was eight in 5:35.40.
The top three females in the race were lead to finish line by defending champion Theresa Harper in 3:57.44. Heidi Snow was second in 4:52.57(her first marathon)and Moira Morrison was third in 5:42.
The runners finish the grueling 26.1 mile race just as a cruise ship docked at the pier. Some of the on-looking tourists expressed interest in knowing if the race was an annual event.
