There’s no better way to see Nevis than on a run around the lush island
STANDING on the marathon start line at 5.30am, I can’t help but wonder why I’m not on the beach instead — the rising sun is sparkling enticingly upon the sea, just a few steps away.
‘When I first read about this race, I thought it was on Ben Nevis in the Highlands. Then I realised where it actually was and decided to build my summer holiday around the run,’ one participant tells me.
She flew from Britain to Nevis, a tiny island in the Caribbean — home to only 12,000 residents — to take part in its third annual running festival.
Several other Britons are waiting for the starting gun, more have flown from the U.S. and some locals have simply wandered over for a jog.
The marathon course takes runners on a sightseeing tour of the lush island, circling Nevis peak, which towers over the green rainforest below.
I take the easier 10k course and along the way I pass rainbow-coloured wooden craft shops, locals setting up barbecues and donkeys having their breakfast in the early morning sun.
The cloudless sky is pink as the sun rises before turning a startling blue. I cross the line to applause from the locals who have turned out to watch; one runner has jumped into the sea to swim the final mile, a cooler option.
After the race, there’s no better place to retreat than the sanctuary of a villa at Paradise Beach, cooling my tired legs in the plunge pool.
It’s just a short walk to the sandy beach where the clear waters stretch to the neighbouring island of St Kitts.
That evening, sitting at the bar, I watch the same red sun I saw rise over the shimmering waters this morning set behind them.