Forde says he had an `average’ athletics season
Guyana Chronicle
December 11, 2003

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CARIFTA gold medallist Cleveland Forde has described his athletics season as average.

The young athlete upon his return from the Run Barbados 10 km, sponsored by Cable and Wireless, said that his performance was good.

“It was up and down for me, sometimes I won and then I didn’t do so well in the others.”

Sporting a blue and white T-shirt in an interview with Chronicle Sport, the young athlete recorded a fourth place finish in the event that was dominated by the Kenyans, who took the top three-spots.

Forde said the pace was basically the same as that of the two South American 10km events that he ran in October.

He said that after the first mile, the Kenyans took control and carried a ‘stiff pace’.

The winning time registered as 30:18; Forde clocked 33:05 almost two minutes over his personal best time of 31:13.

The top local athletes said that we would have been able to medal, had the thought of his lost passport not been on his mind.

Some three other Guyanese athletes participated in the event, two in the 10km race and one in the half-marathon event.

Police athletes Larry Josiah and Carla Benjamin ran the shorter event while veteran Llewellyn Gardner crossed the line first in his category.

Athletes from Canada and the United Kingdom also participated in the event.

The Run Barbados 10k was Forde’s last race for the season and he will be back to the conditioning period next year.

Forde’s major target for 2004 is breaking the Carifta 5 000m record, which he had bettered at the South American Games earlier in the year in Ecuador.

He clocked 14:58.00, while the Carifta record stands at 14:58.12.

Forde was high in praise for his manager Leslie Black who was responsible for his participation in the event. (Leeron Brumell)