Guyana’s two-man road running team of Winston Missigher and Cleveland Thomas opted to skip the third and final leg of the South American 10K in Panama on Sunday and instead made hay in the sunshine in St Vincent.
Missigher and Thomas finished second and third in the NACAC 10K Endurance Road Race the same day the South American 10K event was being staged.
The Athletic Association of Guyana (AAG) opted to send the two standout athletes to St. Vincent instead of Panama for the South American 10K since Panama has never visited Guyana for the series which is in its 16th year.
A release from the AAG stated “We were inclined to send our athletes to Panama to give them the opportunity to repeat the sterling performance shown in the first and second legs. Council was reluctant in sending them especially in light of the fact that Panamanian athletes never came for our leg of this event.
The decision was taken to send them to St. Vincent since their athletes competed Guyana last year. Both athletes would have voiced a preference for St. Vincent as against Panama.
However, following the event, Missigher and Thomas both expressed that it was the toughest course they ever competed on in their entire respective careers. Information reaching this daily mentioned that it was hilly and consisted of a very long steep incline.
The nation’s premier road running athlete, Cleveland Forde led the duo in sweeping the podium in Suriname on October 28 and here on November 4. Forde also opted to skip the third leg in Panama to rest and focus on the upcoming 2019 season.
