… 20km Road Race Classic set for tomorrow
THE event, the Wartsila 20 Km Road Race Classic, is so far the most lucrative event on the athletics calendar in Guyana, attracting several of the Caribbean’s premier distance athletes.Yesterday, the company who is sponsoring the event as part of its 20th Anniversary celebration, handed over a Road Race clock to the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) and according to Contract Manager and former National Athlete Aaron Fraser, the initiative is his since it’s important to know what time you’re chasing.
“We didn’t wait for them to approach us on this one; it’s something I personally felt had to be put in place. I know as an athlete competing, coaches always use to say: always make sure you check your time because on your bad day, you can clock your fastest time. So today (yesterday) we present this clock,” Fraser said.
President of the AAG, Aubrey Hudson, said that while the Wartsila 20Km will be the first event the clock would time, he’s looking forward also to seeing it at all the AAG’s events, given the fact that now fans and coaches would not have to wait until the race is finished to know the results.
The event will have six categories, namely, male and female seniors, male and female juniors, masters age 35 and above (women), masters age 40-54 (men), masters age 55 and above (men, 5 km) and youths (5 km).
The event, set to start at 06:00hrs, will see the athletes begin in the Paradise community, proceed west along the East Coast Demerara Public Road, continue to Kitty Public Road into Carifesta Avenue, before turning North into upper Camp Road. The race will then move west into Battery Road, Kingston then South into upper Water Street before finishing in front of Wartsila’s head office.
All athletes were asked to register by February 26 and are expected to assemble at Wartsila by 04:30hrs on race day for transportation to the starting point in Paradise.
The overall winner pockets $300 000 while second-placer takes home $240 000, third-placer gets $200 000; fourth-placer receives $140 000, with fifth and sixth collecting $100 000 and $50 000 in that order. The same prizes apply to the Open Male Category.