_{Photo: Roque Matus (l) wins finishing sprint over “Smokes” Gladden (r)}

by William Ysaguirre

BELIZE CITY, Sun. Sept. 22, 2024

Veteran Cross Country cyclist Roque Matus won the first ever Barbara Robateau Memorial Non-Elite Cycling Race organized by the Gons Cycling Club on the George Price and Philip Goldson Highways on Sunday, September 22, outsprinting 3-time Lionman Triathlon champion Kenroy “Smokes” Gladden to win 1st place overall and the $1,000 first prize in the “B” category, while Gladden finished 2nd to win the $1,000 first prize in the “A” category.

They rode some 66 miles from the roundabout on the George Price Highway at the entrance to Spanish Lookout, via the Hattieville to Burrell Boom bypass road to the Philip Goldson Highway, and on to sprint over the Bel-Can Bridge in Belize City to the finish line in front of Santos Diaz & Sons on Central American Boulevard.

All four race categories ended at the same finish line, but only the “A” and “B” race started at the roundabout entrance to Spanish Lookout; the “C” race (58.4 miles) began at the Roaring Creek gas station, while the Women’s race started at the Belize Zoo.

B-Category rider Roque Matus clocked 2:44:06, as he outsprinted A-Category Kenroy “Smokes” Gladden to be first across the finish line. They were followed by 6 “A” riders.

There were some 34 station prizes, ranging from $50 to $400, along the course of the race, aside from the top-3 finishing cash prizes in each category.

Below are the top race finishers in the respective categories.

A-Category winners: 1st Kenroy “Smokes” Gladden (2nd overall; Team SPD; 2:44:08; $1,000 prize & trophy); 2nd Kent “Bob” Gabourel (3rd overall; Team SPD; $700 prize & trophy); 3rd Tarique Flowers (4th overall; Running Rebels team; $500 prize & trophy); 4th Jose Choto (5th overall); 5th Philip Leslie (6th overall; Team SPD); 6th Jairo Campos (7th overall); 7th Richard Vera; 8th Grevell Young; 9th Alvan Gillett; 10th Tyrin Tasher (Team G-Flow).

B-Category winners: 1st Roque Matus (1st overall; M&M Engineering; 2:44:06; $1,000 prize & trophy); 2nd Warren Coye (8th overall; Team Santino’s; $700 prize & trophy); 3rd Dwight Lopez (BzBoyz Rolling Shattaz; $500 prize & trophy); 4th Fred “Fresh” Usher, Sr.; 5th Kenneth Butler; 6th Alex Pratt (M&M Engineering); 7th Dave Yearwood (Gons Cycling Club); 8th Peter Jones; 9th Kenny Gladden (Team DigiCel); 10th Kadan Bowman.

C-Category winners: 1st Aston Bowman ($500 prize & trophy); 2nd Ricky Usher ($300 prize & trophy); 3rd Orlando Codd ($200 prize & trophy); 4th George Lovell, Sr. (Team Lovell); 5th David Hyde; 6th Isaiah Willacey (Team Santino’s); 7th Will Gillett; 8th Amir Gonzalez; 9th Wordsworth Lucas; 10th Danny Thomas.

Women’s Category winners: 1st Francine Gigli (Team Lovell Cycling; $500 prize & trophy); 2nd Chelsea Gillett ($300 prize & trophy); 3rd Irene Baki (Unattached; $200 prize & trophy); 4th Lliani Choto; 5th Kelsie Castillo; 6th Jamelia Gladden; 7th Brandi Tzul.

(AMANDALA Ed. Note: Barbara Robateau was a dedicated Belizean sports fan, of football and cycling in particular. Of course, she was a big fan of her brother, renowned 1970s Berger-404 and Hall of Fame goalkeeper Karl “Bunu Kal” Robateau, who was reportedly in Belize for the event and the September celebrations. Welcome home, brother Bunu Kal!)