The nation’s premier male distance athletes, Cleveland Forde and Cleveland Thomas finished first and third respectively in the first leg of the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) South American 10k Classic which was staged in Suriname on Sunday.
Guyana’s Euleen Josiah-Tanner and Andrea Foster also took gold and silver on the distaff side as the local distance dynamos left their indelible footprints on the streets of Paramaribo.
Winner of the Massy and Courts 10k races, Forde rode the momentum on his way to victory in a brisk 31 minutes and 54 seconds. Jamaican, Richard Green finished in 33 minutes and 18 second to snare the silver while Thomas completed the event 24 seconds behind to finish on the podium.
Josiah-Tanner took pole position in 39 minutes and 43 seconds while Foster crossed the line in 41 minutes and 48 seconds for the silver.
The event shifts to these shores on Sunday for the second leg where Forde is a nine-time winner before heading to Panama next Sunday for the finale.
As customary, the winners of the event pocketed US$1000 while the first and second runners-up took home $US600 and $US400 respectively.
Forde will be gunning for the treble.
