South American 10k set for November 29th, Thomas favourite for race

Nov 20, 2020 Sports

By Calvin Chapman

Winston Missinger finished second in the South America 10k last year.

Kaieteur News – Last Sunday, the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) managed to successfully host two cross-country 10k events concurrently in Berbice at the Esplande ground and in Linden at the Bayrock Community Center ground, hiccup free, to officially kick-start the 2020-21 track and field season after the relevant authorities gave sport the green light to resume activities.
Next on the AAG’s calendar is the usually much subscribed South American 10k event. According to coaches, the South American 10k race on the 29th will be more like a Guyana 10k since it is doubtful whether there will be any athletes from the Caribbean, Central or South America here to participate.
The AAG have not received any invitations from Panama or Suriname that usually host the other two respective stages of the three-leg event so it’s very likely to be a one leg event this year.

Following his strong performance is last weekend’s cross-country, Cleveland Thomas should be the favourite to cop the open title at the South American 10k.

This year the competition is in its 18th edition and if the performances from last weekend’s cross-country event would be used to gauge the front runners in the road race then the consistent Cleveland Thomas would be tipped to take top honours.
Although, cross-country meets are not usually very competitive, coaches and athletes alike pay keen attention to their times to determine their level of fitness and condition. At the Bayrock ground in the ‘mining town’ last Sunday, Thomas finished in a time of 43 minutes 08 seconds in the run that was contested around the outer circuit of the venue which is set to house the region’s first synthetic track.
The Police Progressive Youth Club (PPYC) athlete was followed by the Linden based Upper Demerara track club’s Ronnell Newton (43minutes 57seconds), Winston Missingher in third with a time of 44m 9s, Royston Fordyce in fourth and former South America 10k champion Cleveland Forde all the way in fifth place.
Last year’s South American 10k leg in Guyana witnessed a clean sweep by Kenyans Alex Ekesa and Veronica Jepkokei who the open male and female categories, respectively.
In that race, the Kenyans weren’t the only foreign competitors but athletes from Grenada, the United States, Suriname, St. Vincent & the Grenadines (SVG) and Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) also competed.
Winston Missinger finished second in the men’s open in Guyana and the Suriname legs last year and he will definitely be looking to maintain his competitive edge over Thomas in this event.