Scores of athletes battled ferocious rains on Sunday morning to compete in the Ex-Athletes and Friends Independence 10K race. When the rains and heavy winds stopped, it was Cleveland Thomas and Sheama Tyrell who emerged victorious.
For the pair of athletes, constant training has played a great role in their form and Sunday’s win.
In Thomas’ case, he felt it was a comfortable win for him.
“I must give God thanks for finishing and being victorious today (Sunday). The race this morning was a good race, I didn’t come out to pace the race as usual, so I just sit down and I run the first half of the race comfortable, but I know my fitness level is high from my training, so I just went out and I execute in the last half,” Thomas told Guyana Times Sport exclusively.
“The last half was fairly good for me, I run the last half almost by myself, so I enjoy the race.”
When probed about his preparation, Thomas revealed that the notice of the race did not come far in advance, but he had his training plan to fall back on.
“Preparation wasn’t so much, because we had an on-and-off, on-and-off training but I still keep my fitness, I never stopped training, so my fitness level was at a percentage and when I heard about the race, I put in some extra work.”
Thomas and third-place finisher Winston Missigher are constant rivals on the 10K circuit, with Missigher edging Thomas in their last race.
Speaking on this competitiveness on the day, Thomas said, “He’s a good runner, maybe he’s not as fit as he would want to be, you know, I just execute to a good plan and I came out victorious today.”
In a word to younger athletes coming up, Thomas urged them to focus on training and perfect their craft.
Cleveland Thomas crosses the finish line for another 10K win
“I would just say don’t stop training, because training is essential. Even if you can’t get to do your normal routine training, you could still at least come out in the morning or even in the afternoon, just get in a little something, because you have to keep training,” he encouraged.
“If you don’t keep training, competition can pop up on you and you’ll be unfit and won’t perform to your standards.”
On the other hand, although Tyrell enjoyed the ease of the race, there was no real challenge for her.
“It (the race) was very slow, I must say, very slow and very breezy. That’s the most I could say about the race, no real competition,” Tyrell told this publication.
Questioned about her training, she related that it has been restricted lately by the weather.
“We weren’t training much, because it’s very rainy. We rarely get time to go on the road, it was mostly home training and body build,” she explained.
Nonetheless, the young lady detailed her rigid training schedule, which eventually paid off.
“I train on the road in the morning, I try to do at least five miles a day. In the afternoon, we go on the track; so, we do distance in the morning and speed work in the afternoon. Every single day, it’s my job,” Tyrell related.
