MIDDLE-distance champion Marian Burnett rolled away the disappointment of missing the competition of the just concluded XIX Central American and Caribbean (CAC) track and field championships with a typical gritty run in Europe to lower her national 800 metres record.
Fairly inspired by the gold medal performances of her Louisiana State University (LSU) colleagues at last weekend’s regional meet in Grenada, Burnett raced to her own glory with a satisfying second place in
2:01.71 at the IAAF Grand Prix Meeting - Zagreb 2003 in Croatia on Monday.
Representing Guyana in a world-class field, Burnett defied the ‘heavy goings’ to seal the top two positions for her British-based management company Kim Sports Management Inc., as her stablemate and Kenyan champion Faith Macharia romped home with the victory.
Coming in after Macharia and Burnett were Russia’s European bronze medallist Julia Kosenkova; Germany’s number two Monika Gradzki; Dutchwoman Letitia Vriesde - a multiple CAC, Pan-American and World medallist; former Slovenian champion, Sonja Roman; Olympic 1500m
champion Nouria Merah-Benida (Algeria) and Petra Pticek (Croatia).
With another elite meet slated for Sheffield, England, before returning to her home in the U.S., Burnett’s outdoor season also took her to meets in the U.S., Holland, Germany and Poland. She moved up from a string of consistent performances to break her previous personal best of 2:02.29 in a little over seven weeks.
When contacted by telephone a few hours after her race, Burnett recalled that she stayed with the other runners until the 600 metres mark “when Faith accelerated giving me a cue to get going as well.”
“It was good race and we all were there to win, make it competitive.”
Burnett’s performance was not without its usual pre-race quandaries, as she suffered a misplacement of her luggage travelling from England to the Croatia city.
After several unsuccessful attempts to seek her belongings, she eventually reverted to utilising gear and apparel from friends, including Macharia, Jamaican hurdler Debbie-Ann Parris, American sprinter Me’Lisa Barber and Britain’s Natasha Danvers who won the 400m hurdles in a personal best 54.32s.
Burnett said she is happy with her showing in light of the adversities, citing that she was “kinda’ concerned and uneasy at first, but I gave it a cold-shoulder for the race and now I am back to worrying about my things which may still be in England or Austria”. “Anyhow, I am thanking God for the help I got, and for guiding me though this episode” the half-miler noted, adding that her ‘loaned’ spikes were piercingly close fitting at half a size smaller than her customary fit.
“These trials normally serve to strengthen Marian’s resolve, so in a way I was expecting her to be aggressive and take out her disappointment on something or someone, and ... hey! She vented it on the race’” her coach Mark Elliott said in a respite for her luggage misfortune.
He saw her feat as a show of insistence to get over the added disillusion of missing the CAC championships. Burnett could not attend the meet due to tight liquidity preventing her national athletics federation from being able to meet the expenses of flying her from Europe when she is currently domiciled.