Peruvian, Trinidadian to headline South American 10k race
Nov 10, 2016, , http://www.kaieteurnewsonline....h-american-10k-race/
Peruvian, Yerson Orellana and Trinidadian Tonya Nero are expected to feature in this year’s South American 10km Road Race, which was officially launched yesterday at the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) Headquarters, High Street, Kingston.
President of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG), Aubrey Hutson, informed that while registration is still ongoing, the usual high turnout is expected in the Guyana leg of the race, which will for the first time follow the Panama stage on November 20.
Hutson explained that the event was originally set for last Sunday, but was moved to accommodate one of the sponsors, Banks DIH, which had another event planned for that date.
He said the change of date was a welcomed decision for many of the participating countries, which signaled the need of more time to get their athletes together. Athletes from several countries are expected, including those from Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Peru, Grenada, and St Vincent.
Orellana and Nero are the defending champions of the men’s and women’s open category, respectively. Orellana and a team-mate forced Guyana’s top distance runner, Cleveland Forde into fourth place.
Hutson indicated that bringing overseas athletes to Guyana to participate is an important part of the development of Guyana’s distance athletes.
“To improve on what we do in track and field our focus is on bringing in athletes that are of a higher caliber. It’s not fair to our sports to have Cleveland Forde running and winning with just 33 (minutes). The Guyanese public deserves better because when he crosses the border and goes on the international scene the times (in 10km events) are sub-30 (minutes).” Hutson mentioned.
Forde was unhappy last year that the race was decorated with international talent, which stopped his reign over the event.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Fitness Express, Jamie McDonald, whose company is one of the event’s sponsors, spoke of his company’s support for the event.
“We are happy to be lending our support to the South American 10K.
Since the inception of Fitness Express in 2010 we’ve always looked to lend support to athletics and sports in general, and over the last three years, personally, I’ve ran in the South American 10K, and I’ve always been impressed with the organisation, how it’s structured and how well the race usually goes, so this year I thought Fitness Express should offer some tangible support,” McDonald said.
The South American 10K Road Race is a three-part event with Suriname, Panama and Guyana each hosting one of the races. The Suriname edition was completed on October 30 with Forde and fellow Guyanese Euleen Josiah-Tanner, winning the male and female titles, respectively.
The Panama component is usually the final stage, but that has been reversed this year with the Panama leg set for Sunday and Guyana’s participation doubtful.
The AAG made it clear that Guyana will not be sponsoring any athlete’s attendance to Panama. However, athletes wishing to attend the event at their own cost will be given the necessary due diligence from the association.
Hutson cited Panama’s continual refusal to send athletes to participate in the Guyana event as the reason why the AAG will not send athletes to Panama.