Morgan and Sital pleased with end of season performances

Distance athletes Alika Morgan and Chavez Sital who both ended their  season in the `Run Barbados’ series last weekend said that they are satisfied with their closing performance.

Morgan, whose participation at the event was not assured until the last moment, said that she is happy that she was able to end her season on a better note as  her previous performances were not how she wanted to end her year.

At the Run Barbados, Morgan participated in the 10km event which she completed in a time of 41:44s as the tenth female to finish the race. However, Morgan lost her title as the top performing female Caribbean athlete at the event as Jamaican Arieta Martin with a time of 39:49s was the first Caribbean female across the line.

“Basically I’m pleased with my performance because I ran 45 minutes in Suriname in my

Alika Morgan

last 10km, and in the 10km in Barbados last year, and in Barbados this time I ran 41 minutes and 44 seconds. I took off over four minutes and I’m just glad that I was able to end my year better even though my 2010 year wasn’t so good.” Morgan said “The race was tough – a lot of Kenyans took part, it’s an international event so a lot of elite athletes participate.”

Prior to this Morgan had performed in the second leg of the three-stage South American 10K event that was held in Suriname. There, suffering from illness, Morgan had finished fifth in the female category with a time of 45:15.02.

Morgan had also performed in the first stage of the event where she came in as the second female in a time of 41:10s.

Morgan said while it was not a good year given that she was suffering with ailments that ranged from injury to illness, she is still satisfied with her performance. Morgan expressed gratitude to all who  supported  her during the year, particularly her sponsors including GT&T. Morgan said she hopes that next year will be a better year.

Chavez Sital

And Sital, while finishing 16th overall in the 10km run, was the sixth Caribbean athlete over the finishing line in a time of 35:27s. Sital also took part in the Scotiabank Half Marathon  where he finished 12th in a time of 44:03s. For the Caribbean he was the fourth finisher.

“I feel real good because I’m pleased that I did better than last year even if it was not by so much, I’m still glad. I’m not too proud of how I started the year but I’m glad how it ended and I’m hoping that next year could be a better year,” Sital said. He  had also participated in the first stage of the South American 10km road race and had finished 13th overall in a time of 37:30s.  Also representing Guyana at the Run Barbados event was Guyana’s national long distance athlete Cleveland Forde, and Trinidad-based athlete Kelvin Johnson.

Forde was the first Caribbean athlete in the 10km to finish but his time of 31:33s was only good enough for  seventh place overall. In 32:15s Johnson came in ninth overall but was the third Caribbean athlete to finish. In the half marathon Johnson’s 35:33s finish guided him to an overall fourth place while he was second among the Caribbean participants.