Cleveland Forde and Alika Morgan will headline the second leg of the 2011 South American 10 kilometres road race scheduled here for November 20.
Formerly scheduled for October the high profile event, which has three different stages with the other two legs being on November 13 and 26 in Panama and Suriname respectively, had to be postponed to November due to the recently-concluded Pan American Games.
Forde who is the defending champion for the Guyana and Suriname legs missed the Pan American Games because of his lack of preparation for the event. However, he has confirmed his participation in both the Guyana and Suriname stages for this year’s edition of the event but is skeptical about participating in the Panama version.
“Well, I will definitely be in Guyana and Suriname but I’m not sure of Panama because I don’t know if the AAG (Athletics Association of Guyana) will make any provisions for that,” Forde told Stabroek Sport via telephone.
With regards to his preparations for the event Forde gave Stabroek Sport the ‘thumbs up’ that he is in good condition to defend his titles and his main aim is to win.
“My preparation is coming along well, I think I have done the sort of preparation I wanted to do and now it’s about keeping tuned and holding that peak.
“I’m just going out there to compete and win, the first thing is to go out and win…if I’m with a pack and feel that I could push the pace then I will but I’m expecting to go out there and win,” Forde concluded. Morgan who has had a good year on the road after staying healthy during the course of the year has declared that her intentions are to win at home and in Suriname.
“I’m definitely looking forward to win. I have been preparing hard and working on different parts of my race,” Morgan stated.
The local distance queen who came second in Guyana’s leg last year revealed that she is aiming to run in the 37 minute range at the event.
“I’m looking forward to running 37 in the 10k because my preparations are coming along well and while I’m not 100 percent ready I will get there in time,” Morgan told Stabroek Sport via telephone.
Meanwhile president of the AAG, Colin Boyce said that the AAG will not be making any provisions for athletes to go to the first leg in Panama since they are not financially strong at the moment. However, Boyce did indicate that while he knows that Forde wanted to attend the Panama leg he has written a letter to the Guyana Defence Force (Forde’s place of employment) in an effort to assist Forde to gain sponsorship.
“Forde has indicated his interest in participating in Panama but we will not be making provisions for that. I have written a letter to the army for sponsorship for him besides that we will not send anyone, especially since we are not financially capable at the moment,” Boyce told Stabroek Sport via telephone.
