“On your marks! get set!” This is the finals of the ‘I Love You’ 200-meter reggae feature race for the day.

And, there is a false start as a red flag is raised for firm favourite P. Dizzy who has been moving very shaky in the run-up of this event.

There is protest from Willy Nilly of Hollywood Shame. But officials seem firm on their decision claiming he is known for jumping before the starter pulls the trigger.

The crowd responds with loud cheers as P Dizzy is escorted from the field.

With P Dizzy out, seven artistes are on the battlefield. Among them is Rasta Blacspade, a conscious reggae artiste who has been posting commendable times on several charts since the start of the year.

Dressed in a classic three-piece outfit, Blacspade leaves nothing short of a king at the palace of Emperor Haile Selassie.

Cheering for him is veteran trainer, Dub Chemist, who keeps telling the Press the ‘Love Over All Things’ artiste is hard to beat.

“Come on now, not even P Dizzy could run close to beating him, even if he had oiled the tracks from overnight. Blacspade is not in his B class.”

“My artiste has sound lyrics which are heard from Europe to Africa to the Caribbean, including Jamaica. Just watch how he will scorch the tracks,” Dub Chemist boasts.

And, they are off to a good start. All eyes are on the rasta in lane five who is heads with the three favourites.

They are coming towards the grandstand where it seems a party is brewing. Some 200 empresses are celebrating with ‘I Love You’ T-shirts, ‘Rasta Live’ multi-coloured skirts, ‘Hail Jah’ headbands, ‘Be Like The Sea’ turbans, ‘High Herb’ sneakers, and ‘Africa Love’ whistles.

And as they come into to the straight, I can clearly see a few artistes struggling to keep up with the pace.

They include ‘Dancehall Slackness’ and ‘More Guns Fi Buss’.

It’s some 20 meters to go, and Blacspade is pulling away from the field. The others are fighting for their lives. The Jamaican-born US-based artiste is now a clear five meters ahead of his rivals.

It’s Blacspade, wearing the ‘I Love You’ T-shirt, who’s going to win. Blacspade, moving farther away from the rest.

And, it’s all over, the stadium is on its feet. It’s all Green, Gold and Black.

Chemist pulls out a red, yellow, green, and black flag as big as a twin-size sheet. He tries to wave it by himself but it is far too heavy. I can see the dignitaries, foreigners, and locals celebrating like one big family.

Blacspade moves over to the Press waiting to get a slice of his success story.

“Love Over All Things,” he keeps repeating as he leaves the stadium with thousands of celebrants still cheering.

(Photos contributed)