HEAVY downpours during the wee hours of yesterday morning forced organisers of the Boyce and Jefford Relay Festival and Family Fun Day, scheduled for the Police Sports Club Ground, to postpone the event until next week Sunday, May 7.
After Saturday’s rainfall,organisers were still optimistic up to late Saturday night that the event could still go off. The meet’s Technical Director, Mark Scott observed that though the surface was wet the ground was still hard underneath.
However,the Sunday morning showers caught organisers off guard, and inundated the track, mandating a postponement.
“Up to 2am Sunday morning when we left the ground,everything was ok for a successful sports day, but then between 3 – 7 this morning, we had some heavy rainfall. So we decided to postpone for next Sunday, May 7, in the hopes that we get better weather and we could have a better track,” Boyce and Jefford co-chairman, Edison Jefford, explained at the ground yesterday.
Up to late yesterday afternoon, Jefford was still at the ground to personally meet and apologize to any patron who did not get word of the postponement and still turned up for the highly-anticipated event.
The organisers issued an advisory on the event’s Facebook page and notified all of the participating clubs and their athletes. However, while many are saddened by the postponement,at least one club is glad now that they will be able to participate in the relays,since they could not have made it this Sunday but will be available next Sunday.
“The hype will continue because we’ve spoken to all stakeholders, we’ve spoken to all the athletes and clubs. And I know at least one particular club coming from Berbice is actually happy about the postponement because they are at the Penn Relays and it gives them an opportunity to compete since they are retuning on May 4,” Jefford related.
“All the systems will be crystallized this week, and perfect those that aren’t already perfected and seek to have a more grandeur occasion.”