Missigher finally captures elusive South American 10k title

• Tyrell cops Female title

In what has proved to be a long running hunt for Gold in the Guyana leg of the South American 10k, Winston Missigher finally captured the elusive title in a dominant run on Sunday afternoon on the West Coast of Demerara.

In overcast conditions, Missigher led from start to finish in an impressive display of endurance and power. The race which began from Mary and ended in the National Track and Field Center (NTFC) at Leonora, featured strictly Guyanese athletes, the likes of Cleveland Thomas and Jonathan Fagundes among those present. 

However, Missigher’s long time rival, Cleveland Forde, known as the ‘Little Kenyan’ was a notable absentee. Missigher crossed the finish line in a time of 34 minutes 22.34 seconds to clinch the South American 10k Gold medal for the first time in his career. He was followed by Thomas who bagged Silver in 34 minutes 53.20 seconds while young and upcoming Kennard Hartog stopped the clock at 36 minutes 06.84 seconds to grab Bronze. 

Rounding out the top five were Daniel Harvey (36 minutes 23.40 seconds) and Ronell Newton (37 minutes 19.25 seconds) in that order.

On the distaff side of things, Linden siblings Shema Tyrell and Shaquka Tyrell ran away with Gold and Silver respectively in the Senior Female category. Shema clocked 43 minutes 00.87 seconds while Shaquka crossed the line in 45 minutes 27.47 seconds. Meanwhile Aaliyah Headley managed to finish third and copped Bronze in 49 minutes 56.68 seconds with Kissana Glen finishing fourth in 54 minutes 29.08 seconds.

In the Male Masters category (40-54 years) Francis King was victorious while Larry Josiah and Adrean Thomas closed out the top three in that order. In the 55 & Over race, Dabidyal Harold clinched Gold while Linden Phillips and Oswald Phill were second and third respectively.

Carla Adams crossed the finish line to be the winner in the Female Masters category.

For their efforts, second to fifth place winners in both male and female categories pocketed G$125,000, G$100,000, G$75,000 and G$50,000 respectively while the winners walked away with $150,000 each.