Peruvian duo Yerson Orellana and Luis Ostos clinched the gold and silver medals respectively and overwhelmed traditional powerhouse Cleveland ‘Little Kenyan’ Forde in the second leg of the 13th South American 10K Classic yesterday.
Forde who had dominated the local leg of the Classic since 2008, had to settle for fourth as Orellana, Ostos and Trinidad and Tobago based Kenyan, Kenneth Rotich halted his monopoly.
Orellana, 22, went on to win the race from Carifesta Avenue (in front of GT&T), to the University of Guyana, to the National Park in a blistering 31 minutes and eight seconds with his countryman in tow, just one second behind.
Rotich snared the bronze further back in 32 minutes and 18 seconds while Forde who had won the first leg in Suriname last Sunday stopped the clock in 33 minutes and five seconds after fading 16 minutes into the race. Jamaican, Rupert Green was fifth 37 seconds behind the ‘Little Kenyan’.
While Orellana took the men’s title, Trinidad and Tobago’s Tonya Nero wore the women’s crown.
Nero, 25, clocked 37 minutes and 51 seconds to finish ahead of Guyanese duo, Euleen Josiah-Tanner (41m: 03s) and Andrea Foster (42m: 06s). Grenada’s Kenisha Pascal (44m: 15s) and local athlete, Shantal Hinds (44m: 34s) filled out the top five positions.
The two winners went home richer by US$1000 apiece while the second placed runners received US$600 and the third spot fetched US$400. They also pocketed real gold medals.
In ideal running conditions, it was the Peruvian runners who set the pace early, pulling along Rotich, Forde, Green and Cleveland Thomas (sixth place) as a bunch of six broke away from the rest at the Russian Embassy.
However, six became four as Thomas then Green was dropped from the high pace at Ocean View Hotel.
Rotich then staged a short-lived attack just before the turning point on UG Road as the Peruvians and Forde responded and connected. Forde’s response seemed to bore a hole in his gas reserve as he began to fade and dropped off the pace soon after.
The threesome however continued to motor on with the South Americans setting the pace and the Kenyan in close attendance. With about 2ks for the finish, Ostos took over the front running and this made it tougher for Rotich who became absent with every powerful stride of his rivals.
Orellana and Ostos then went on to cross the finish line comfortably to take the top two honors.
The third leg of the event is scheduled to be staged in Panama on Sunday.
