Well, it’s official. And again, a foreign cyclist has “walked” away with the garland, with foreign riders taking 10 of the first 12 positions.
There was some exceptional coverage of this year’s Cross Country on various radio and television stations, so fans got to see and hear the “blow by blow” as never before. They say it’s the punch you don’t see coming that knocks you out, but Belizeans can’t say we didn’t see this one coming, again. Still, there was moaning and groaning in the streets when Guatemalan Miguel Perez took things over in the last couple miles and entered the old capital all alone to “rock his baby” across the finish line for the 82nd Holy Saturday Cross Country Classic victory.
The champion’s finishing time for the 139.7 mile journey was 6:09:22 (6 hours, 9 minutes, and 22 seconds) for an overall average speed of 22.7 miles per hour. The record remains intact, 5:40:16, set by American Ryan Bauman in 2008, finishing at the same spot on Marine Parade.
Belizean hopefuls Marlon Castillo, Greg Lovell, Jose and Giovanni Choto, Geovanni “Froggy” Leslie, et. al., were just that, hopefuls. The foreigners were dominant again.
In the case of Froggy Leslie, his was perhaps the “unkindest cut” of all. We all acknowledge the foreigners are better financed and at a higher competitive level than our Belizean riders, who generally are amateurs, working for a living at day jobs and doing their riding in their spare time. We therefore need every edge we can get when the foreigners come to invade our turf at Country time. That’s why most Belizean fans have been frustrated over the years with this “team concept” that is the modern way of cycling. But just when we thought we understood all the drawbacks of this “team” strategy, braps! We get another shock.
Froggy might be all “blow hard”, and maybe he wouldn’t have upset the foreigners’ show anyhow. But, damn, did he have to be disqualified from the race because his chain broke at Mile 12 on the return, when he was among the top contenders? That’s Froggy’s story, and though BCA officials insist it is a team rule, fans are having a hard time seeing the justification for such a rule in our Cross Country. (In fact, one cycling official informed us that that particular rule is more suited for “tour” races, not for “one smash” affairs like the Cross Country.) According to Froggy, the Mexican team offered to lend him a bike to continue the race, when his service team was out of sight. And our BCA official refused to allow it, because of “team rules”. So, Froggy, one of our brightest prospects, did not even finish the race.
If there is one consolation this year, it is that Belizeans were involved in the early breaks, and thus collected our fair share of the station prizes. But when it came down to the final 3 or 4 miles in the approach to Belize City, the foreign riders out-pedalled the Belizeans, plain and simple. Even Marlon Castillo, with a half bicycle lead over American John Delong, was chased down in the last hundred yards to the finish line. The American took 3rd place, and Marlon, whose legs may have been weakened from an earlier gallant get-back effort, had to settle for 4th, still his best finish so far in Cross Country.
It began as an expedition, an adventure and an ordeal, back in 1928, before there was even a continuous road all the way to San Ignacio. The first Cross Country cyclists had to carry their bikes on their shoulders when crossing streams where the trail ended, re-mounting on the other side to continue the journey. They spent the night in San Ignacio, and started the return journey early the following morning.
Today, with paved roads all the way, and high tech machines, the non-stop two-way trip lasts just over 6 hours. But to be counted among the official finishers of today’s Cross Country Classic, a rider has to complete the journey not more than 30 minutes after the winner. Those 46 who accomplished that feat, out of the 95 that started the race on Holy Saturday, are therefore worthy of mention.
Below are the official finish records (rank; name; age; nationality; team name; finishing time in hours, minutes, seconds; and time after the winner in minutes and seconds):
1st – Miguel Perez, 29, Guatemalan, Sugar City Starz, 6:09:22 – 0:00
2nd – Wilmen Bravo Isaga, 28, Venezuelan, Zamir, 6:10:03 – 0:41
3rd – John Delong, 30, American, Subaru/Gary Fisher, 6:10:53 – 1:31
4th – Marlon Castillo, 22, Belizean, Zamir, “ “
5th – Gregory Lovell, 24, Belizean, Santino’s, 6:10:57 – 1:35
6th – Hector Hugo Rangel, 29, Mexican, Santino’s, 6:11:13 – 1:51
7th – Donizetti Vasquez-Aburto, 22, Mexican, Depredadores, 6:11:22 – 2:00
8th – Luis Santizo, 30, Guatemalan, Sugar City Starz, 6:11:34 – 2:12
9th – Chris Harkey, 38, American, Subaru/Gary Fisher, 6:12:04 – 2:42
10th – Gil Cordoves, 45, Venezuelan, Zamir, “ “
11th – Carlos Manuel Hernandez, 33, Mexican, Santino’s, “ “
12th – Anthony Taylor, 49, American, Zephyr, “ “
13th – Byron Pope, 20, Belizean, Benny’s Megabytes, “ “
14th – Quinton Hamilton, 31, Belizean, Zamir, “ “
15th – Leroy Casasola, 30, Belizean, Santino’s, 6:13:22 – 4:00
16th – Shane Vasquez, 30, Belizean, Western Spirit, “ “
17th – Christian McNish, 28, Panamanian, Benny’s Megabytes, 6:14:29 – 5:07
18th – Brandon Cattouse, 25, Belizean, C-Ray, “ “
19th – Jose Choto, 31, Belizean, Western Spirit, “ “
20th – Eduardo Cocom, 19, Mexican, Depredadores, “ “
21st – Peter Choto, 20, Belizean, Zamir, 6:15:09 – 5:47
22nd – Ron Vasquez, 24, Belizean, Western Spirit, 6:15:32 – 6:10
23rd – David Henderson, 19, Belizean, Indeco, 6:15:35 – 6:13
24th – Fredy Acosta-Gongora, 24, Mexican, Depredadores, 6:15:42 – 6:20
25th – Larry Vasquez, 29, Belizean, Western Spirit, 6:16:05 – 6:43
26th – Roger Troyer, 29, Belizean, Santino’s, “ “
27th – Andrew Myers, 18, American, Subaru/Gary Fisher, 6:16:44 – 7:22
28th – Jeffrey Zelaya, 35, Belizean, Western Spirit,
29th – Edgar Arana, 22, Belizean, Typhoon, 6:19:29 – 10:07
30th – Darnell Barrow, 22, Belizean, Santino’s, “ “
31st – Mateo Cruz, 37, Belizean, Zamir, “ “
32nd – Hernan Ochaeta, 20, Belizean, Indeco, “ “
33rd – Ernest Meighan, 38, Belizean, Santino’s, “ “
34th – Jose Bonilla, 32, Costa Rican, Benny’s Megabytes, 6:19:56 – 10:34
35th – Henry Raabe, 27, Costa Rican, Benny’s Megabytes, “ “
36th – Marconi Duran, 29, Costa Rican, AAA Loans, “ “
37th – Collet Maheia, 40, Belizean, Sugar City Starz, 6:20:27 – 11:05
38th – Allen Castillo, 20, Belizean, Typhoon, “ “
39th – Preston Martinez, 32, Belizean, M&M Engineering, “ “
40th – Arnidez Rivas, 25, Belizean, Sugar City Starz, “ “
41st – Robert Stewart, 41, Belizean, M&M Engineering, 6:20:31 – 11:09
42nd – Edward Reyes, 18, Belizean, Santino’s, 6:20:39 – 11:17
43rd – Omar Garcia, 22, Mexican, AAA Loans, 6:25:51 – 16:29
44th – Glenn O’Brien, 35, Belizean, Zamir, “ “
45th – Rodrigo Leiva, 20, Belizean, Sugar City Starz, 6:29:58 – 20:36
46th – Jairo Campos, 20, Belizean, Typhoon, “ “
Special category prizes were given for Belizean riders in the Category 3 and in the Masters Category 4 & 5.
Category 3 top finishers were: 1st Quinton Hamilton (Zamir); 2nd Leroy Casasola (Santino’s); 3rd Brandon Cattouse (C-Ray); 4th Peter Choto (Zamir; 5th Hernan Ochaeta (Indeco); 6th Ernest Meighan (Santino’s); 7th Allen Castillo (Typhoon); 8th Arnidez Rivas (Sugar City Starz); 9th Edward Reyes (Santino’s); and 10th Glenn O’Brien (Zamir).
Top finishers in the Masters Category 4 & 5 were: 1st Collet Maheia (Sugar City Starz); 2nd Preston Martinez (M&M Engineering); and 3rd Robert Stewart (M&M Engineering).
Congratulations to all!