Latest update November 26th, 2024 1:00 AM
Gardnar retains Masters Title; D’Anrade finishes 2nd overall
Gardnar (left) and 2nd placed overall finisher D’Anrade show off their hardware.
Guyanese Llewellyn Gardnar won the Maters category in the inaugural Telesur Srefidensi Marathon in Paramaribo Suriname seven years ago and every year since, last Saturday at age 55, continued his dominance by retaining the top spot in a time of 3 hours 30 minutes.
Fellow distance runner, Trinidad-based Lionel D’Anrade made it a good evening for Guyana in the Dutch neighboring land by finishing 2nd from a field of 40 in the overall category of the prestigious Marathon.
He finished the race in a time of 2 hours 44 minutes to take the runner-up trophy and the US$1,000 cash prize.
In conditions conducive to long distance running, rain drenching the competitors towards the end of the event, Gardnar, who represents Rising Star Track Club locally, finished 10 minutes slower than his winning time last year and explained that he was forced to run at a slower pace this year.
Gardnar, who finished 10th overall, said he had to be taken to Hospital in Suriname for an ailment but still decided to participate since he was confident that despite not being fully fit he would still reap success in a race he has dominated in recent years in his division.
“I deliberately ran slower since I was uncomfortable due to my ill health but paced myself well to easily win the category. I was hoping to finish in the top five overall this year since I put in a lot of road work in Guyana but had I tried to push too hard too early I might have found myself in trouble towards to the end,” said Gardnar, who took the Masters category in last October’s South American 10K race in Guyana.
He informed that he will be migrating to Trinidad next year and thanked all those who have helped him during his athletic career, especially his Coach Leslie Black.
He also expressed gratitude to the sponsors (Anlim, Giftland Office Max, Ramchand’s Hardware Store, Gold Smith Harry on Regent Street and Danny Gouveia who all assisted in making his trip to Suriname possible. (Sean Devers)
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