Guyana Fitness Games will hold the sixth edition of the Caribbean Fitness Challenge on Sunday, February 9, at the National Park Tarmac. It is the third year Kares Engineering is the title sponsor and according to organisers, this year will be the toughest yet for athletes.
A total of 31 competitors, 10 of which are foreigners, will compete at this year’s event.
Seven are from Suriname, including their top athlete Mark Tawjoeram, who will head to the Reebok Cross Fit Games in July; and one each from Barbados, Canada and Trinidad and Tobago.
Only three of the five events have been made public; the other two will be known on competition day.
At the official launch on Thursday evening at Kares CrossFit, located on the corner of Erving and Anira Streets, organiser Jamie McDonald spoke of the progress of the event over the years.
“You will notice that every year the events get a bit more technical in nature, a bit more difficult, some people may say a bit more dangerous, although we really try to keep that down to a minimum. I would not say it is more dangerous because the level of athletes has gone up. When we first started we had a lot of novice athletes and we used to have to programme the workout for your average fitness enthusiast.”
He added, “We kind of built this sport basically from fitness enthusiasts in the gym to where we have actually athletes where they spend three to six hours a day training for CrossFit. The level is higher and this year you will see the level has gone up a bit and this year the athletes will have to work pretty hard to get the money.”
The champion athlete will pocket $500,000, while second to fifth will be rewarded with $400,000, $300,000, $200,000 and $100,000 respectively.
Every athlete will be given a participation award of $15,000, compliments of Kares Engineering and Lotus Hardware. Athletes over the age of 30 will be given $100,000 (first), $50,000 (second) and $30,000 (third).
Additionally, 15 teens will battle in the Under-17 category. The top three teen athletes will receive $30,000, $25,000 and $20,000 respectively.
Tickets, costing G$1,000 each, are on sale at Kares CrossFit, Genesis Fitness Gym on Durban Street and Fitness Express on Sheriff Street. Children under 10 will be admitted free.
Guyana Fitness Games expresses gratitude for the continued support of Lotus Hardware, ANSA McAL Trading through its iCool Water and Lucozade brands, MVP Sports, Berkinstock Guyana, Pollo Tropical, Star Party Rentals and St. Joseph Mercy Hospital.
The first event will be held at 06:00h, but the crowd attraction events start at 13:00h.
