Marlon ‘Fishy’ Williams rode a blistering race to outlast a competitive field of cyclists when the Guyana Cycling Federation (GCF) staged one of its ongoing fundraising activities around the outer circuit of the National Park, yesterday morning. Robin Persaud crossed the finishing line centimeters behind Williams to cart off the second place while Warren McKay closed off the podium positions.
Marlon ‘Fishy’ Williams
From the onset the fans that turned out in support of the cyclists knew that the competitors would have had to dig deep to come out on top. The race was contested at a ferocious pace and the first two laps saw Williams, Persaud and Walter Grant Stewart assuming a considerable lead over the pack. Williams and Persaud maintained the momentum but Grant Stewart apparently felt the brunt of the pace and drifted back into the pack from as early as the third lap.
The pair of Williams and Persaud dominated the proceeding from that stage right down to the last hundred meters of the race when Williams employed crafty tactics to drive home in a strong and competitive finish. The two cyclists shared the prime prizes with Williams taking four and Persaud, three.
After the race an ecstatic Williams admitted that the race was both tactical and taxing. He said that it was a case of wits and grit as Persaud was the aggressor from the inception. He explained that Persaud was doing approximately forty percent of the pace making while he was content to just mark his (Persaud) back wheel. Williams said that as the two riders approached the finish line Persaud hung back waiting on him to make a decisive move. “I was in control from the onset and was confident of winning the race,” concluded Williams.
The day’s activities started on a winning note for Rashidi Ceres who won the BMX 6-9 years event in front of Devon Benjamin and Keon Harris. In the BMX 10-13 years event, Jornel Yearwood won from Adrian Sharma and Raymond Perez, 2nd and 3rd respectively. Daurius Ramsammy outlasted Shaquille Agard and Michael Anthony in the BMX 13-15 years old event, while Ozia McCually won the BMX Open from Kwesi Headley and Nicholas Graham, respectively.
Jude Bentley dominated the Mountain Bike event with Kester Croal and Cliff Thomas closing off the respective podium positions.
In the Veteran category Andrew Spencer crossed the finishing line in front of Linden Blackman and Kennard Lovell respectively. Chris Holder won the juniors’ race from Rastaff O’Selmo and Kurt Rose, respectively, moments before Williams lit up the track with his sterling performance.
Several other activities made up the fund raising programme including dominoes and a food sale.