CLEVELAND Forde and Trinidad and Tobago’s Tonya Nero were winners in the men’s and women’s categories when the inaugural Wartsila Half Marathon Classic was held yesterday. 

The race, which was run as a commemoration of the company’s 20th anniversary, started from Paradise on the East Coast Demerara and concluded at their Kingston head office.
Over 46 athletes started the race but most persons were focused on the rivalry in the Men’s and Women’s categories.
Nero is probably the best in the Caribbean over the 20km distance and she maintained her dominance to win the $300 000 first prize; the most lucrative road race ever in Guyana, clocking a time of one hour 19 minutes 37

seconds.
Euleen Josiah-Tanner had to settle for $240 000 after finishing second, running a one hour 30 minutes 27 seconds.
Twenty-year-old Alicia Jack finished third (1:33:10) and went home with $200 000 while Alika Morgan, local favourite to win the event, came in fourth as she posted a time of one hour 34 minutes 10 seconds. Morgan pocketed $140 000 for her effort.
Ashanti Scott (1:46:42), Tiffany Williams (1:46:59), Shion Boyer (1:51:53) and Nikita Wilson (1:51:55) rounded off the top eight finishers in the Women’s category.
Meanwhile, the men’s category lived up to all the pre-race hype as the athletes certainly delivered as promised.
The who’s who in the sport locally were all in the mix but it was Forde who was able to distinguish himself from the strong field.
Forde, 29, has been one of Guyana’s brightest stars over the past few years, representing the country at almost every possible international event.
Yesterday, he won the race in a time of 1 hour 10 minutes finishing ahead of Cleveland Thomas (1:10:38.90), Dennis Horatio (1:10:52.60), Lionel D’Andrade (1:11:03.90), Kelvin Johnson (1:12:34.90), Nathaniel Giddings (1:16:21), Jamoul Chisholm (1:17:06) and Carl McKenzie (1:17:48).