Rudolph Mitchell, Guyana’s racewalking champion chalked up his 78th consecutive local victory when he won the Clarence D. Kirton Memorial racewalk event organized by the Cavaliers Sports and Tour Club (CSTC) last Sunday.
According to a press release, Mitchell competing over a distance of five miles from the Prairie International Hotel at Coverden, East Bank Demerara to the Soesdyke Methodist Church, claimed the top position from Kelton Jennings, Brian Herbert and Jeremy Cornelius in that order. Mitchell was awarded the Dr. Jennifer Westford trophy.
Donna Ramkissoon took the top position on the distaff side, while Debidyal Harold and Glayson Ralph took the veteran and junior categories respectively in a race that was organized in the memory of Kirton who was an editor and journalist before he passed away on 4th August 1997.
Trophies and other prizes were donated by Dr. Westford, former Assistant Commissioner of Police Duncan Clarke, Attorney-at-Law Llewellyn John, Managing Director of Salt and Pepper, and Proprietor of Humphrey’s Bakery and Farm Products Limited, George Humphrey. The competitors were provided with water throughout the journey, compliments of Banks DIH Limited.
Meanwhile, CSTC would be organizing a four-mile racewalk event for Sunday 17th August and a three-man team from neighbouring Suriname will be participating. This race will start at the Wismar end of the Linden Bridge and conclude in front of the Bayrock Recreation Centre in Wisroc.
This is all part of the Racewalking month of activities organized by CSTC under the theme ‘Protecting and developing Guyana through Sports’.
Racewalking is an Olympic athletics (track & field) event with distances of 20 kilometers for both men and women and 50 kilometers for men only. Racewalking first appeared in the modern Olympics in 1904 and there has been at least one racewalk (for men) in every edition of the Olympics since. The women’s racewalk became an Olympic event only in 1992, following years of active lobbying by female internationals. A World Cup in racewalking is held bienially, and racewalk events appear in the IAAF Athletics World Championships, the Commonwealth Games and the Pan-American Games, among others.
