The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is gearing up for one of its most anticipated annual regional sporting events, as the island nation of Saint Lucia prepares to welcome elite distance runners from across the bloc for the 2025 CARICOM 10K Road Race. Scheduled for Sunday, July 5, the race will officially open the festivities of CARICOM Week, building up to the bloc’s landmark Fiftieth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government set to convene the following day on CARICOM Day, July 6. Saint Lucia Prime Minister Phillip J. Pierre will serve as the host of the high-profile leadership summit.
While the exact route for the competitive 10K course has not yet been released to the public, event organizers have confirmed that local runners will get a rare opportunity to test their speed and endurance against top regional competitors, fostering cross-community athletic connection ahead of the intergovernmental meeting. The race is being organized through a collaborative partnership between the CARICOM Secretariat, Saint Lucia’s Ministry of Education, Youth Development, Sports, and Digital Transformation, and the Saint Lucia Athletics Association.
In addition to the flagship 10K competition, the 2025 event has expanded its programming to include a suite of supplementary activities designed to engage runners of all ages and abilities. Alongside additional competitive running categories, the schedule now features a dedicated mile race for youth and junior athletes, as well as community-focused walking events to boost public participation.
Prizes for the 10K match the generous structure that has been in place in recent years: both the men’s and women’s overall champions will take home a cash prize of US$1,000, along with a prestigious trophy. The top male athlete will be awarded the CARICOM Chairman’s Trophy, while the top female winner will receive the CARICOM Secretary-General’s Trophy. As of 2024, both of these titles are held by athletes from Trinidad & Tobago, who swept the podium at the 2023 event hosted in Jamaica. Nicholas Romany claimed the men’s top spot, while Alexia John took first place in the women’s division, solidifying Trinidad & Tobago’s dominance in the previous running of the race.
Notably, the 2024 iteration of the race, which was originally slated to be hosted by Grenada, was forced to be canceled outright due to the destructive impact of Hurricane Beryl, making the 2025 Saint Lucia event a highly anticipated return to the annual calendar.
For host nation Saint Lucia, the race carries extra local pride: a handful of homegrown athletes have claimed top honors in the event’s history. Zepherinus Joseph was the most recent Saint Lucian to take overall victory, clinching the win back in 2011. Earlier national champions include Victor Ledgers, who earned the top spot in 2005, while Michael Biscette claimed a national medal for the island in 2022. At the 2023 Jamaica race, Saint Lucian athletes Laura-Lynn Limery and Jason Sayers placed sixth in the women’s division and ninth in the men’s respectively, with Limery having previously taken third place overall in the 2023 competition.