“I anticipated this win,” said Guyana’s Cleveland Forde after outsprinting Pamenos Ballantyne of St Vincent and the Grenadines yesterday to claim his first Caricom 10K road race.
Forde won in a time of 31 minutes and 52 seconds while Trinidad and Tobago’s (T&T) Shermin Lasaldo clocked 40 minutes, 12 seconds to win the female category.
The race was started in front of the Caricom Secretariat by Secretary General Edwin Carrington and Minister of Sports Dr. Frank Anthony.
As usual, the runners were feeling each other out and ran together until they reached the railway embankment road before proceeding to the East Coast highway in the vicinity of Ogle.
Leading the bunch was Curtis Cox (T&T) with Guyana’s Jonathon Fagundes, Forde and Ballantyne following closely.
Fagundes dropped out around the three kilometre mark, leaving Cox, Forde and Ballantyne to battle with the main bunch some distance behind the trio.
But, at the half way mark, Cox fell probably due to constant pressure by Forde and Ballantyne.
From then on as predicted by Stabroek Sport, it was a straight fight between Forde and Ballantyne.
Prior to yesterday’s race Ballantyne had said that his focus was mainly to win and not think of his closest rival this year in Forde.
However, the Guyanese had other plans.
Ballantyne began to make his move at around the seven-kilometre mark with Forde in hot pursuit.
The two continued in the same vein until they entered the Eve Leary ground.
The waiting crowd erupted when they saw hometown hero Forde go past Ballantyne to cross the line and in the process end Ballantyne’s four-year stranglehold on the event.
“The race was more than what I expected, it was very competitive and for the fact that I won my first time in it at home makes me feel very happy,” said Forde afterwards.
“I just kept my pace and made sure that I stayed with the front runners especially Pamenos and he made a move just at the final kilometre mark and I followed and just did my thing you know, so I’m very, very excited about this win,” he added.
Forde received US$1200 ($240,000) and Ballantyne US$900.
Cox, third with a time of 33 minutes and 51 seconds, carried home US$ 700.
Meanwhile, shin splints caused Alika Morgan to forfeit the race and her bid to successfully defend her title on home turf.
The 2008 National Sports Commission (NSC) Sportswoman of the year was leading up to the eight kilometre mark in front of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) Earth Station before the injury became too overbearing for her to continue.
Lasaldo, however, made good use of the absence of Morgan who had dominated the race on four previous occasions to take the easy win ahead of Kenisha Pascal of Grenada (44 minutes and 30 seconds) and Christine Regis, third.
The winners of the male and female international category will officially be given their spoils at the opening ceremony of the Caricom Heads of Government Summit which will be held here from Thursday.