Technical officials from the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG), this week completed the measuring of the course for the Ainlim 10km Road Race which will be held on Sunday 9 from 06:00hrs on the Highway of the East Bank of Demerara.
Technical delegate for the event Mark Scott and his assistant Lyndon Wilson completed the measuring of the new course which will be used this year. In the past two editions of the race, competitors started at Ainlim at Ruimveldt and raced to the turnaround point at Providence close to Sterling Products before returning to Ainlim to finish the race. The race format mirrored that of Guyana’s premier road race the South American 10km Classic which is ran on the Rupert Craig which leads to the East Coast of Demerara.
This year, organisers have decided to make the Ainlim 10Km a straight race without the turnaround point. The new course requires athletes to begin the event in the vicinity of Republic Bank’s Diamond branch and finish just over six miles later at Ainlim in Ruimveldt.
Wilson, who is also a certified technical official, told Stabroek Sport that the turnaround point format of the race had caused traffic congestions in previous editions of the race since it is still an active highway. Wilson said that the new route will allow the traffic police ranks to control the flow of traffic better during the race and allow athletes to have a clear path to the finish. Wilson, a former star quarter-miler said that the only disadvantage of the course is that athletes will have to run nearly the entire race into a headwind.
Defending champion Cleveland Forde said that he is looking forward to competing at the event once again this year especially since it poses a new challenge this year. Forde, who is the two-time champion of the event, said that while he does not mind running into the headwind he recognises that it decreases the likelihood of him running a faster time than in previous editions.
“The new course should be good for the race. The longer stretches will be more interesting especially since we will be running into the breeze,” Forde said. With a full schedule of upcoming competitions, Forde said that he is not concentrating much focussed on running a fast time for the race. The 26-year old three-time Junior CARIFTA 5000m gold medallist said that he would much rather test his fitness and pace himself as he prepares for the rest of the road running season by running a controlled and strategic race. Some of the events that Forde will be competing in over the next couple weeks include the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Inter Unit Athletics championships, the Inter Services Athletics Championships (ISAC), a few meetings in Trinidad and Tobago as well as the Courts 10km Road race in Guyana and the South American 10km. The race attracted close to 50 starters in last year’s event and according to Wilson the event may attract about 80 runners this year since participation keeps increasing each year. The closing date for registration of athletes is September 6.
