Forde still the unstoppable force at South American 10K

By Akeem Greene

Despite the humid conditions and threat of the ever-improving Winston Missigher, Cleveland Forde did not disappoint the gathering at the finish line as he unleashed another one of his characteristic sprint finishes to clinch the second leg of the 2018 South American 10K Road Classic on Sunday afternoon.

The moment represented the 14^th occasion Forde foxed across the finish first, and it was accomplished in a time of 34.07s just ahead of Missigher, who clocked 34.09s, while Cleveland Thomas was third with 34.18s.

At the start, it was the same old approach by Forde, locked in behind pack and just pacing before he unleashed the dash at the end.

Johnathan Fagundes and young Ricky Williams created the early steam, leading the pack up to the 7K marker, but tired legs began showing and it was from there the top trio made their move like lions in a pack pulling away heading into Thomas Lands.

Stride for stride, fingernails might have been devoured by time they made their entrance into the National Park and it is there Forde went into overdrive until the finish in front of the Children’s Monument. Fagundes was fourth with 34.51s and Williams claimed fifth spot with a time of 35.08s.

The trio’s stronghold continued just a week after their identical placements in Paramaribo, Suriname. For their efforts, the top three went home with US$1000, US$600 and US$400 respectively.

Meanwhile, in the female category, Grenada’s Kenisha Pascal avenged her second place finish in 2017 to clock 42.29s, finishing way ahead of Sheama Tyrell and Kezra Murray.

Aaliya Moore and Tia Azore filled out the top five positions, but up to the time of writing, the timings for the other females were still undisclosed by officials of the Athletics Association Guyana.  For their efforts, Pascal and Forde also pocketed genuine gold medals.

Running Brave’s Daniel Harvey won the male junior (age 16-19) title, while Guyana Defence Force’s Leyanna Charles won the female category.

The Male 40-49 Masters category was won by Francis King of Super Upcoming Runners, while the 50-59 age category went to Curtis Cox of Trinidad. Over-60 went to Llewellyn Gardener of the Masters Association, while the female age 35 and over was won by Police Sports Club’s Carla Benjamin.

The third and final leg will be staged on Sunday in Panama.