Marlon ‘Fishy’ Williams rode a smart and well calculated race to emerge as the best from a field of 31 starters in the inaugural Cell Smart/Digicel sponsored HIV/AIDS Awareness 20-lap road race held around the outer circuit of the National Park yesterday, Valentine’s Day.
The Roraima Bikers Club (RBC) member won the contest in 2 hours 1 minute 20 seconds crossing the line in an exciting sprint ahead of club mates Alonzo Greaves and Darren Allen. Kaieteur Cycle Club’s Tony Simon broke the RBC dominance by taking 4th place with another RBC rider, Warren ‘Forty’ Mc Kay 5th and John Charles taking the 6th place.
Williams’ win reminds the opposition that he will be the man to beat as long as he stays in shape. His win also underlines his ability as both an endurance rider and a sprinter. He took five of the 19 primes on offer with two of the special ones, Allen also taking five including the other special prime. Simon and Andrew Spencer claimed 3 each with the other going to Marlon Morrison.
Christopher Holder continued his dominance of the junior category with victory over Berbician based Neil Reece and Paul De Nobrega, while Raymond ‘Steely’ Newton won the veterans open category crossing the line ahead of Junior Niles followed by Robert Beaton.
Raymond Perez took the BMX 9-12 race which started outside the GDF gate on Carifesta Avenue and finished at the starting line in front of NIS. Deeraj Garbarran and Dineshwar Ragubeer followed in that order. Perez returned to take the 3rd position in the 12-14 event which was won by Davenand Bissoon, Darius Ramsammy placed 2nd.
Cell Smart Country Manager David Atkinson sent the riders on their way in humid but breezy conditions just after 10:00hrs following brief remarks.
Williams and Robin Persaud, who suffered a puncture on lap 3 which effectively ended his hopes of challenging for the top spot, set the early pace with Morrison taking over to lead by the second lap, but by lap three, it was Allen and Spencer who took charge, developing a 34 second lead on the second pack of Williams, Simon, Greaves, Alex Mendes and Daniel Ramchurejee.
By lap 9, the second pack was able to connect with the leaders owing to excellent work. Unfortunately for Ramchurejee, he suffered a puncture on lap 10 and even though he was able to quickly get a change of wheel he was unable to connect again with the front pack, eventually dropping out with 4 laps to go. The Linden based Spencer who seemed to be in good form pulled out on lap 11 with muscle spasms.
But by lap 12 the top four positions were virtually decided with Williams, Simon, Allen and Greaves separating themselves from the others. Such was the speed and tempo of the big guns that a number of riders were lapped including the junior field.
Fans and athletes were treated to a cultural show before the presentation. Leading Soca singer Big Red wowed the crowd with some of her popular tunes while 10 year-old Jivonski Thorne, certainly a star on the horizon showed his versatility, first by belting out the popular Michael Jackson hit song ‘Ben’ before dishing out some of his own songs, one on HIV/AIDS titled ‘Safe Life’ and a calypso, ‘Jus Wine’.
Assisting with the presentation of prizes was the mother (Bertlyn St. Hill) of the late Marlon Mc Wilfred, a former employee of Cell Smart who succumbed to illnesses related to the HIV/AIDS disease. Cell Smart Country Manager David Atkinson had stated at the press conference to launch the race that they were driven to bring off such an event in Mc Wilfred’s memory to educate the populace about the deadly disease.
The National Aids Programme Secretariat (NAPS) was on hand yesterday sharing out educational material along with male and female condoms to cyclists and fans.
Patrons and fans were also given the opportunity to participate in a raffle sponsored by Cell Smart. The first prize of one Blackberry phone was won by the holder of ticket No. 237; the second prize of one Coral 200 Solar Phone went to the holder of ticket No. 1579 while the 3rd place prize of $1,000 went to the holder of ticket No. 020.
Commenting on the event, Atkinson said he was very pleased with the turn out by riders and spectators and noted that the event will be an annual one. He also stated that races will also be done in Linden and Berbice where Cell smart also have stores.
By Franklin Wilson