Another clean sweep for Guyana

15th South American 10K Classic Road Race
– sublime Forde cops Gold
By Michelangelo Jacobus
The “Little Kenyan”, Cleveland Forde, on Sunday afternoon added yet another South American 10K Classic Road Race title to his immense collection of trophies and medals, while his countrymen Cleveland Thomas and Winston Missigher took the other two podium spots.

For the second time in little over a week, the Guyanese trio made a clean sweep of the podium to reign supreme, after their dominance in the first leg held in Suriname.
Competing in the second leg of the 15th edition of the race, Forde was in the lead pack from the get-go, and never let the leaders out of his reach. Once again, the Guyanese trio of Forde, Missigher and Thomas stuck together and worked as a team to lethal effect.
By the 3000-metre mark it was clear who would finish among the top 10, as the three Guyanese, along with last year’s winner Curtis Cox (Trinidad and Tobago) and Ashton Junior out of St Vincent and the Grenadines, set the pace for the entirety of the race.

At the halfway mark Junior was leading, but the Guyanese were right up there with him. Cox, however, was some distance back, but remarkably bridged the gap to make the final 2000 metres interesting.
As is his usual practice, Forde turned on the heat in the final 500 metres, and never looked back as he crossed the finish line to loud cheering from the smattering of spectators present.
The Little Kenyan finished in a slightly faster time than the first leg, as he clocked 33 minutes 42 seconds flat to take the first place trophy along with the genuine “Guyanese Gold” medal. His namesake Cleveland Thomas, for the second time in a week, took second in 33 minutes and 51 seconds, while Winston Missigher grabbed third in 34 minutes five seconds.

Coming in fourth was Trinidadian Curtis Cox in 34 minutes 18 seconds, while Ashton Junior closed out the top five in 35 minutes 53 seconds.
In the female open event, Linden McDowall from St Vincent and the Grenadines took top spot with 39 minutes 50 seconds, while Grenada’s Kenisha Pascal was second in 40 minutes 44 seconds. Guyana’s Maria Urquhart placed third in 44 minutes 20 seconds while her countrywomen Sheama Tyrell and Ashanti Scott were fourth and fifth respectively with times of 44 minutes 28 seconds and 46 minutes eight seconds.
Urquhart was also the first to finish in the Junior Females category, with Tyrell being second. Their compatriot Lyanna Charles was third in 50 minutes 49 seconds, while Suriname’s Stefanja Wielzen closed out the top four in 51 minutes 29 seconds.
Junior Guyanese athlete Anfernee Headecker took top honours for the Junior Males, while Surinamese Ronaldenhio Pinas was second; Guyana’s Rickie Williams was third and Delroy Leitch fourth.
In the youth event, the male and female 1500 metre race, Guyana’s Seon Booker, Odida Parkinson and Trimel Bishop took first to third positions in that order for the boys, while Aliyah Headley, Kellanie Glen and Attoya Harvey were first to third for the girls.
The third leg of the South American 10K Classic will run off in Panama within the next two weeks. At this time, it is unclear if Guyana will be represented there.