D’Andrade wins Santa Cruz 6.5km Race

- other Guyanese, Drayton places fourth

Guyana’s, Lionel D’Andrade continued his ascendancy to the top of distance running in Trinidad and Tobago when he completely blistered the field in 22:12.78 seconds, winning the event with his country-man, Phillip Drayton finishing fourth.
D’Andrade, who has been campaigning in Trinidad for some time, was better than both Nicholas Williams (22:28.10) and Akeem Joseph (23:36.83) from Trinidad. Drayton’s fourth place finish came in a time of 24:10 seconds.

Lionel D’Andrade (right) and Phillip Drayton, following the completion of the Santa Cruz 6.5 km Road Race in Trinidad and Tobago.

D’Andrade said that the race was good because he won without exerting pressure on himself. He informed that the race is mere preparation for him since he is trying to peak in November for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Marathon.
“The race was good; I didn’t push myself too much because I’m still recovering from a back injury which occurred about two weeks ago. I’m to peak for November where there will be a lot of races and the OECS marathon,” D’Andrade told this newspaper.
On the other hand, Drayton, who recently started competing in Trinidad, where he is now based, indicated that he is using the distance runs as part of his conditioning work for competition. Drayton is a seasoned and former national junior 400m runner.