Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Sep 13, 2015 Sports
It becomes very repetitive that every time road race season comes around, Cleveland Forde is an automatic favourite. Sunday’s Courts 10km Road Race is especially important to Forde, since he was unable to defend his title last year owed to the virus Chikungunya.
Forde’s absence from the Courts race last year, paved the way for Cleveland Thomas, his nearest rival, to win his maiden major race over the last decade where Forde has been dominant. Forde is eager to have the honour he has owned for three straight years before 2014 returned to his trophy cabinet.
Forde has already chalked up wins in the AINLIM 10k race two weeks ago and was the first
man from the Caribbean to finish behind winner Kenyan, Kenneth Rotich in the Venture Credit Union 5km Road Race in Trinidad and Tobago last Sunday.
Forde seems to be in top shape and can be imagined shifting gears in the latter half of the Courts race, leaving any hint of a challenge in his shadows as he does so often, eventually cruising to what become comfortable and customary victories.
Forde will be looking to repossess the title he forfeited, hopefully with a sub-30 minute run as he prepares for the South American 10km Road Race. Forde’s Focus on Sunday will be mundane; it will be another addition of one of road racing’s most coveted titles.
His distance-running foes will be offered a new opportunity to dethrone the local king of the road on Sunday. It’s a clichéd statement; they have been offered such opportunities in the past, but it’s no secret what became of those ambitions. In the last decade, no local athlete has beaten Forde in a local road race.
Undoubtedly Guyana and the Caribbean’s number one distance runner, Forde usually presses his accelerator around the 8km mark after tactically fielding out his rivals. His race acumen is almost perfect and his judgement is so clinical that he burns less fuel.
Forde relies on his tried and tested strategy that is to use the pacemakers to his advantage early in road races, and keep enough gas in his tank to up the ante in the latter half, which often leaves an incredible space between him and his opposition.
Those likely to test Forde include Thomas, Nathaniel Giddings and Winston Missenger and the others who have registered. But without a clear strategy against Forde, who has routinely used these races as warm-up for the much more challenging IAAF South American 10k, the result will be repetitive – another major victory for the indomitable Forde.
The prizes for the male and female senior category include $100,000 for the winner; $75,000 for second place; $50,000 for third; $30,000 for fourth and $20,000 for fifth place. The prizes in the Masters category (Women 35 years and over, Men 40-54 and Men 56 and over) are trophies for first to third while the first 20 Masters to finish will each receive hampers.
The Juniors, male and female, will get training vouchers valued at $60,000, $40,000, $30,000, $20,000 and $10,000 respectively. The race is part of Courts’ commemoration of 22 years of operations in Guyana. Over $2M will be spent on the 10km Road Race Sunday with $1.2M in prizes.
The 10km race will start in front of Courts’ Main Street Office, proceed north to the Seawall Road, east along the Seawall Road and continue east along Rupert Craig Highway’s northern carriageway to turn in the vicinity of Conversation Tree Road on the Rupert Craig Highway.
It will then proceed on the Rupert Craig Highway’s southern carriageway into Kitty Public Road; south on Vlissengen Road; west on Lamaha Street, south on the eastern carriageway into Main Street, before turning around at the Cenotaph to finish on the western carriageway of Main Street in front of Courts.
The 3km ‘Health Run’ will start outside of Courts on Main Street, proceed north to the Seawall, continue along the Seawall, turn right on to Camp Street, continue to Lamaha Street, turn left on Lamaha Street, proceed west to Main Street, turn left onto Main Street. The race will continue in the southern direction to the Bank of Guyana before turning right onto Main Street (western side) and finishing at Courts.
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Apr 19, 2024
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