According to information coming out of the Guyana camp, Forde outpaced and then outsprinted two Brazilians and two Colombians to finish first. Chef de Mission Noel Adonis reported that from a field of 17 starters, Cleveland won an excellently structured race, clocking 14:07.08 minutes. Second was Brazilian Bernardo DaSilva in a time of 14:09.76 and third Brazilian Sergio DaSilva in 14:09.95. The Colombians finished fourth and fifth.

Adonis said Forde was confident going into the race and he set himself in position from the start in the middle of the pack. By the fourth lap it was a six-man race.

With five laps to go, Forde made his move and settled into second between the two Brazilians. He surged to the lead briefly with three laps remaining, and pressured the Brazilian into exerting himself to regain the lead with two laps left.

Going into the last lap, Forde was right on the heels of the Brazilian, and with 300 metres to go he passed the Brazilian on the turn and despite a last effort on the Brazilian's part, Cleveland had enough left to win the race going away from the pack.