LAST year was the biggest year for road races in terms of the number of events on the racing calendar, race director for Running Events Limited Alfred “Frano” Francis told the Jamaica Observer, and 2015 is shaping up to be just as active.

He told Your Health Your Wealth in a recent interview that outside of the health benefits to be had from participating in road races, these events foot health bills while also help to reduce the burden on the national purse.

“Road races are so important when it comes to wellness. It provides a focus for persons to work towards an event, and by doing so, the persons maintain a healthy lifestyle and therefore they make the doctor poorer,” Francis reasoned.

“Also, you talk about disposable income, but people don’t have disposable income, because when you get ill, it can just wipe out a family’s savings,” he continued. “And so road races alleviate the pressure on the national purse, the health sector and even in corporate entities you have more productive staff, their individual corporate medical bills are less.

“So it is really positive where nation building is concerned, that we have a healthier society, a society which is less prone to illnesses and less prone to pressure the health sector,” Francis declared.

He said that while participants may enter road races to keep fit, they also put their weight behind road races that are associated with raising funds for charity. However, he admitted that it is not always beneficial financially.

“We are approached a lot when you can see a consistency, when there is an award like a handover of a cheque,” Francis told Your Health Your Wealth. “Because there is a lot of need and persons want to fill these needs.

“But it doesn’t always work out financially for some persons when they do this, because unless the event has good corporate backing to finance the marketing and making the event visible, also a good cause that can touch people’s hearts, the support may not be there from the participants,” he disclosed, adding that there must be sincerity of purpose because people want to contribute to worthy and noble causes.

One of the latest races being managed by Running Events Limited is the LIME Foundation 6K, dubbed “Run for the Children”, which is set for a 6:30 am start on Sunday, January 18 at Fort Clarence Beach in Portmore, St Catherine. It is aimed at raising funds for children with cancer at the Bustamante Hospital for Children.

Francis went as far as to opine that road races keep people physically active and this physical activity may even have a spillover effect in relation to the country’s crime rate and experiences with trauma.

“I even looked at something the other day where the whole crime rate has gone down and you have trauma cases, where people are involved in stabbing, that impacts on our health sector; even from a trauma perspective, having healthier persons around who are not prone to getting involved in trauma cases or accidents are some things that impact very positively on our health sector,” Francis reasoned. “And I think that developing a healthy lifestyle also moves people from certain bad habits, because you don’t want to smoke, you don’t want to drink, you probably go to your bed early.

“There is a camaraderie with persons, especially with corporate entities, because a lot of corporate entities now send teams and finance teams to go to races like once every month; they recognise it builds the camaraderie at the workplace and people get to know each other and they work better together, increasing productivity.”

The race director said road races facilitate a “win-win situation”.

He shared that the support of State entities like the Ministry of Health, the Jamaica Constabulary Force, the National Works Agency, and municipalities is necessary to successfully execute a road race, but acknowledged that the major ingredient to any successful road race are the participants.

“We must provide all the things that can lead to wonderful runner care, to ensure the people have a good experience and want to come back and participate,” said Francis.

Conceding that he still has a lot to do where road running and raising funds are concerned, Francis maintained that his team is very passionate about what they do and are committed to its continuity.

Meanwhile, Francis cautioned people who work as if they want to have 28 hours in the day to strike a balance.

“The fact is that there is this feel-good through physical activity… but whether it is cycling, swimming or dancing, it is very important and we must recognise that it links to longevity,” Francis said. “It doesn’t make sense you work hard all the days of your life and you accumulate wealth and you are not there at the end of the day to spend and enjoy it. People need to take that into consideration.

“Even take 20 minutes or half-hour out of the day to exercise, because it is so very important to the quality of life that you have,” he stated.

So, which road race are you supporting this year?