Local distance queen Alika Morgan shrugged off her disappointing run at the South American 10 kilometres road race held here recently to capture the Caribbean championship at the Barbados 10k run last Saturday.
According to Morgan’s coach Leslie Black, the athlete had suffered from pelvic problems in the South American 10k that saw her dropping out of the race.
This time Morgan turned in a time of 40:07s to finish 26th overall, fifth in the women’s category, and first in the Caribbean segment of the Barbados run.
Kenya-born Ohilda Holguin who competed for the United States of America was the first woman to cross the finish line in a time of 33:28s.
Morgan, who suffered a fractured toe while training two weeks before she competed in the Barbados event, endured the gruelling run through a hilly terrain to come out with the Caribbean Championship while placing first in the 21-25 age category in a half marathon the following day.
“Well I didn’t perform to my best because I went into the competition with an injury but I was still confident of my chances in the race while I was not as confident in the half marathon because it’s longer along with having the toe injury,” Morgan told Stabroek Sport.
The silver medalist at Carifta also told Stabroek Sport of her plans come next year.
“Well next year I plan to come back stronger because this year wasn’t too good for me,” the distance queen stated.
Morgan in her telephone interview with Stabroek Sport yesterday also took the time to thank her main sponsor the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) company who has been her main sponsor over a number of years.
Meanwhile, Cleveland Forde, South American 10k winner of the Guyana segment, produced a sensational performance to finish second behind Jamaican Shawn Pitter in the Caribbean segment of the race while finishing fifth overall with a time of 32:47. Forde also won the Caribbean segment of the half marathon the following day.
Pitter won the Caribbean segment of the 10k in a time of 31:31s as he finished fourth overall while Richard Kessio of Kenya blazed the trail to finish ahead of all 342 competitors in a time of 30:15s for the overall crown.
Efforts by Stabroek Sport to contact Forde about his performance at the event proved futile.
Trinidad-based Guyanese distance runner Kelvin Johnson finished sixth overall with a time of 33:25s while junior distance runner Chavez Sital who is not in any type of form finished second in the Caribbean junior segment in a time of 36:25s while finishing 16th overall.
