For those who run often in Cayman, most of the routes can become mind-numbingly familiar rather quickly. One might therefore assume that it was the all too familiar pavement passing underfoot that drove Ken Krys to create a unique off road running event. However, his inspiration came from much further afield – the scorching sands of the Sahara in fact. 

After taking part in the multi-day Marathon des Sables in Morocco, Krys starting wondering whether it would be possible to recreate the atmosphere of that event in the Cayman Islands. 

Of course, recreating a six day epic trek through the wilderness where runners are required to carry their own food and gear would prove to be a challenge in Cayman. 

“Cayman’s a lot smaller, so to ask people to do five or six days carrying their own food is going to be a little bit difficult when you’ve got development everywhere,” laughs Krys. 

“But we thought maybe we could do something that was just a little bit extreme, do something that was outside the normal road runs and marathons.” 

Instead of six days, Krys decided to settle for one, but the event still presents a challenge that cannot be matched by any other running event in the Cayman Islands. 

“We made it 50 kilometres so it is an ultra, which is anything over a marathon, but knowing that most people in Cayman don’t do 50k or marathons, we wanted to make it interesting for them as well somehow, which is why we included the team element where you can do it in a team of six,” says Krys. 

Through the event, Krys endeavours to take runners to parts of Grand Cayman they would not otherwise experience, whether ducking through some of the back streets, cruising along the dyke roads or trudging through the sand. He says that the organisers try to make the event just a little bit more challenging every year and keep runners guessing as to what they are likely to face out on the course. 

“We get more ideas on how to make it even a little bit crazier, so this year, over the last couple of weeks I have been out doing my runs and trying to find places that I think will be a little bit different and extraordinary for the runners to be able to get into,” he says. 

According to Krys, runners can expect to face some bush to run through, some water elements to get through or across and maybe even a couple of obstacles to climb. 

“We are going to throw in some new dimensions that haven’t been there before, just to make it a little bit interesting and different.” 

Another unique element of the event and one for which Krys says he takes some flak every year, is that the route is only released a week before the event. However, he says that it adds a greater element of surprise to the route and retains an element of adventure that would otherwise be missing. Although the route is marked, runners should not expect it to be all taped off, again to retain a bit of orienteering rather than make it a straight race. All of this adds a bit of a mental workout to the event on top of the physical workout. 

The event is not just about challenging runners physically and mentally, but also about challenging the perceptions they may hold about the country they live in. Krys believes that running provides the perfect opportunity to observe the world around you and think about it, and he believes that Off the Beaten Track provides him with a unique opportunity to expose the participants to inputs they would not otherwise receive on their daily dealings with Cayman. 

“We get put into our own little glass towers where you work, you go to Seven Mile Beach and you think everything is fine, but actually you need to know your island and learn how we can make it better. The underlying part of it is to get them to see things that aren’t so pretty and aren’t so clean and gets them thinking and gives them a sense of what the island really is. That’s Off the Beaten Track,” says Krys. 

“I will always try and pick places I don’t think people have been before. When you’re out running through the bush one of the things I find is the amount of garbage that is being thrown in our bushes is horrible, it’s insane,” says Krys. 

One of the original driving forces behind the creation of the event was to raise money for charity, in particular Facing Africa, the charity Krys became involved with during his participation in the Marathon des Sables.  

“We used to just do it for Facing Africa, but it seems to me particularly given the economic downturn, many of the local charities are having issues around getting donations,” he says. 

“In times of recession or economic downturn it actually becomes harder and people need the money more than they do during good times, when somebody else will take care of them. So we decided to give some money locally.” 

This year, 50 per cent of the money raised will go to Facing Africa, with the remaining 50 per cent being split between local charities Cayman’s ARK and the School of Fitness.