How marathon champion Oddy Grullon found the strength to fight back

Reshma Ragoonath | Cayman Compass | 8 December 2023

When Oddy Grullon tore through the ribbon at the finish line in Sunday’s Cayman Islands marathon, the win was about more than just clocking a time or earning a trophy.

On Sunday, in a time of 3:44:57, Grullon won the gruelling 26.2-mile event, which she has been participating in since 2010.

She said she is still basking in her victory, personally and professionally, as a runner.

“I am still in shock. I took over just a mile before [the] finish in the marathon. I couldn’t believe it when I broke that ribbon. I said, ‘That’s it, this is real, I won’,” Grullon recalled.

As she approached the finish line, Grullon, who hails from the Dominican Republic, said everything she had been through came flooding back.

“I was crying on the inside,” she said, adding that the entire moment was special on so many levels.

With the victory, Grullon has firmly put the trauma of being attacked while running two years ago behind her.

“This is what I love… running. I cannot let anybody take that from me,” Grullon said, when she appeared on Wednesday’s episode of the Cayman Compass talk show ‘The Resh Hour’.

Grullon described the challenges of recovering from the assault, as “a little bit tough at the beginning of [last] year and then it [became] a little bit more challenging for me,” she said, but was determined not to give up on her passion.

Her attacker, Ruperth Hodgson Ingram, who pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm, was jailed for 25 months.

Looking back at the race, Grullon said it was like everything came together for her and led her to victory.

She said days before the marathon she was still undecided about whether she would participate this year.

“Everybody was asking me ‘Are you going to do the marathon? Are you going to do the marathon?’ and I said ‘I don’t know, I haven’t decided because I was like should I do it? No, yes, no. I wanted to take like a little break because I ran three other marathons before,” she said.

Grullon said a friend went to sign up for the marathon on Saturday afternoon and called her. He asked if she was sure she did not want to run this year.

That phone call gave Grullon the nudge she needed. She said she asked him to sign her up.

“I got the number 77 and he got 78. He dropped it for me at work and I just got up early on Sunday and here I am,” she said, adding that she was ready for the race as she had continued training after running the Chicago marathon in October.

“I was hoping… to run Tokyo, which is in 13 weeks, but I didn’t get a place,” she said.

Grullon’s times in the marathons in Boston and Chicago this year were better than they have ever been. Cayman, she said, “felt different this year”.

“I don’t know why. It’s not just because I won. It’s just that I was surprised with myself that I took [the course] so easy and [when] I finished, I wasn’t dying. Even if it was kind of a struggle and it was really hot, I felt okay,” Grullon said.

Grullon said she wants her story to serve as inspiration.

“Speak out and [seek] the support of your family and the community. Don’t keep silent when you go through domestic abuse or something that is hurting you. Just speak out,” Grullon said.

She added she has been grateful for all the support she received from the community since she spoke out about her attack.

She said the incident will always stay with her, but she is proud that she was able to turn that experience into something good, raising $25,000 for the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre through her four-marathon challenge last year.

“I had the strength to fight back, but it was very difficult for me to get out from bed, to open the door in the morning, to go running again. It took me about two months because I got injured. My leg was broken, it was very difficult,” she shared.

Grullon said she is looking forward to running more marathons next year and said that she has been invited to run the Sydney marathon next September.