By Tamica Garnett

THE Boyce and Jefford Relay Festival will renew some old rivalries among teams on April 24 at the Police Sports Club ground, Eve Leary, especially among the Joint Services, with the Guyana Police Force (GPF) finally getting their chance at revenge.The grouse stems from Guyana Defence Force (GDF) edging Police last year in the controversial 4×100 metres race at the Inter-Service Annual Athletics Championships, despite a superb final leg from Winston George (Police).

The GDF and GPF men put on a show last year when Defence Force’s, Davin Fraser collected the baton ahead of George on the final leg of the 4x100m. George ran a superb final leg to catch Fraser for a photo finish that went to the soldiers in the end.
The race wrapped up a dominant performance from the soldiers in the relays, prompting talks of revenge in the Police camp for the Boyce/Jefford event next Sunday. GDF ran a combined 40.50 seconds to win the 4x100m last year compared to Police’s 40.60s.
In the 4x400m, the soldiers swept both men’s and women’s events in times of 3:24.30s and 3:59.90s respectively. It means that in their last meeting in relays, GDF held the advantage over Police in the main events. The Police women won the 4x100m last year.
The soldiers will be gunning to maintain their advantage over Police in relays events scheduled for next weekend. However, the soldiers’ victory is not guaranteed since several other teams will be coming from all across Guyana to compete.
Teams will come from Linden, East Coast and West Coast Berbice. The relay events: Male and Female: 4×100, 4x200m 4×400, Sprint Medley for Females (100m, 100m, 200m, 400m), Sprint Medley for Males (100m, 200m, 400m, 800m), Distance Medley for Females (400m, 600m, 600m, 800m) and Distance Medley for Males (400m, 600m, 600m, 1200m).
Each relay race carries a total purse of $40 000 with $20 000 for the winner, $12 000 for second place and $8 000 for third place. Technical Director Mark Scott has indicated that all the top clubs and athletes in Guyana will be competing in the Relay Festival.