WALTER ALIBEY
Curtis ‘Sadam’ Brereton is on the verge of representing a team sponsored by Sportswear giants Nike in the United States. He got this opportunity after two successful performances in the USA in December.
‘Sadam’ as he is affectionately called by his friends, first cruised to the top spot in the over-50 division of the Jingle Bell Four-Mile Race in Brooklyn December 5 and also placed 92nd overall in that event in a time of 26 minutes flat. A few days later Sadam was fourth in the Long Island Board Walk 5k in a time of 19 minutes and 32 seconds.
Yesterday Brereton said he was pleased with his performances as he pointed out the 4-mile race had a turn-out of 5267 runners while the 5k had a total of 300.
“To place 92nd overall out of over 5,000 runners is a tremendous achievement and to add I also topped the over 50 division. The 5k which is normally a very competitive race, saw me placing fourth, so I am really pleased with my performances” Brereton explained. He is now awaiting a call from Nike officials in the US to finalise documents relating to his agreement to represent the team at future events.
The team (Nike), it is understood, is scheduled to participate in a number of events such as 5k, 10k and half marathons. He told the Guardian he will be skipping this year’s edition of the T&T International Marathon and Half Marathon to focus on this new development. He has also begun intense preparations for these events, covering some four hours of running daily and more at the weekends.
‘Sadam’ also said he has his eyes fixed on the World Masters Championship in Melbourne, Australia in October, an event he qualified for by virtue of his performance at the RBC 5K last year.
Apart from the RBC 5K, he had a lot more successes in 2015, as he finished third in the Ventures Credit Union 5K Classic in 19 minutes flat and gave a credible performance in the T&T Association of Retired Persons (TTARP) 10K Road Race.
“I am just anxious to represent the Nike team in the US so I am waiting for them to call. They have a lot of good runners and I think that I can help them win a number of medals and trophies” Brereton said.
The humble ex-Defence Force runner said his achievements would not have been possible had it not for the contributions and inputs of a number of people such as Pancho’s Restaurant and Bar, his coach Albert King, Sean Clement of Gatorade, Natasha Long of Gospel Radio network Isaac 98.1fm, the Sports Company of T&T and his manager Hayden Boyce.