… ministry looking to have monthly 5km events
AFTER an absence of 16 years, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS) and the Athletics Association of Guyana (AA) yesterday, in the Ministry’s boardroom, resuscitated the Independence half-marathon road race. In delivering his brief remarks, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr Frank Anthony used the annually held three-stage and five-stage cycling events, two signature events on the calendar of the Guyana Cycling Federation (GCF), as an example of what he would like to see the Independence half-marathon become.
“We at the Ministry would like to see athletics grow in Guyana and we have been investing a lot into the sport, especially with the development of the synthetic track and because of this, it is not only about infrastructure, but we would like to see programmes and competitions for our athletes, so we can have a holistic development of athletics in Guyana.”
He added, “We have seen how competitions can influence people participating in a particular sport and we have had very good experience from cycling, where over the last 30-odd years we have been sponsoring the three-stage race and over the last five years, the five-stage, which have become calendar events.
It is not only a calendar event for us here in Guyana for our local cyclists, but also regional as a group of competitors come here to compete along with cyclists from North America and because of this, we are seeing the quality of the event grow along with the quality of competition and we wish to do a similar thing for athletics.
Dr Anthony said there is a need to further increase competition for the athletes, who are not having steady competition.
“We need to expand and there must be some regularity, when it comes to competitions. Athletes cannot hear about the event two days before and be able to run in the event. That is totally unfair as they would not be able to lead the challenges of the event, especially if there are distances involved.
“And that’s why we want to have a regular calendar that people can look forward to. Athletes can also train towards competing in these events, as there are two things we are looking at. We want competition, competitiveness in what we are doing and we also want participation in what we are doing,” said Dr Anthony.
He cited persons such as amateur joggers who can compete in events of this nature, as they seek to make people physically active, adding that his Ministry and the AAG have decided to invest in the event, without the help of Corporate Guyana, with the aim of making it an annual event.
Dr Anthony, who is an ardent activist for healthy living, said his Ministry is looking at introducing a monthly 5km event for athletes who compete in long distance events, while they will be looking at ways in making the half-marathon a full one in the future.
“We don’t mind investing in the half-marathon now, as years to come we intend to make it an annual event, with the view of making it a full marathon as well, while we will be looking at hosting the 5km events on the last Sunday of every month and I believe we can do it.
“If we start with the 5km and move into the half and later on full marathon, then we will be giving persons and not only the athletes, things to look forward to. We have persons who walk in the park and even jog on the seawall, who can also participate in these events, doing so at their own pace.”
“We are hoping to get the monthly 5km event started this year and maintain it as well. With regard to the full marathon of which I think we have people who are capable of doing so; we have not held one for a long while and we will be working on it,” said Dr Anthony.
He added, “It would be easier for us, as we would have a body of persons who are ready to compete in these things and once we are able to do this, we would start seeing our athletics calendar come alive and at the same time have statutory dates per year for certain events.”
Permanent Secretary within the MCYS, Alfred King, said he is pleased to be associated with Saturday’s race, which will proceed along the East Coast carriageway, starting at the old Regional Democratic Office at Paradise and proceed to the MCYS.
King also welcomed the registration of overseas athletes for the half-marathon and took the time to encourage other sports associations across Guyana, such as the Guyana Football Federation and even the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation, to send a contingent of athletes to compete.
According to Technical Director of the AAG Mark Scott, the top five finishers in the male and female Open category as well as the top three in the male and female Masters category will be rewarded with cash prize and trophies for their efforts.
The respective winners in the Male and Female Open category, who must be 18 years and over, will run away with $75 000 and a trophy, with the other top four finishers will receive $50 000, $30 000, $20 000 and $10 000 respectively, along with trophies.
For the Masters, a male entrant must be 40 years and over, and the female 35 years and over. The top three finishers will receive $50 000, $30 000 and $20 000 respectively along with trophies in both categories.
There will be two water stations, one feeding station and two sponging stations along the route of the race which gets under way at 05:30hrs, with transportation leaving the MCYS office at 04:30hrs for the starting point.
Some of the athletes who have registered to compete are: Cleveland Forde, Cleveland Thomas, Alika Morgan, overseas-based Guyanese Eulene Josiah, who extended her stay to compete, and Mexico’s Ambassador to Guyana.
When the event was last held in 1996, Andrew Smith and Abidemi Charles carted off the Open Male and Female categories respectively.