The Ministry of Health, through its initiative Jamaica Moves, has partnered with the Kingston College-FLOW/PUMA 5K to begin their six-race series to promote healthy lifestyle throughout the country.

This year marks the fifth staging which will take place on Sunday, September 10, at North Street with the main aim of raising funds to benefit the education and athletic development programmes at Kingston College.

Speaking during the launch at the school on Tuesday, Minister of Health Dr Chris Tufton encouraged the audience, and by extension, Jamaica to “get active, eat healthy, and benefit from that over time through healthier living and better quality of life over time”.

Tufton highlighted the positive effects that a healthy lifestyle can have in the reduction of non-communicable diseases, which are currently overburdening the health system in the country.

“It is particularly significant for us to make the point every opportunity we get, that Jamaica Moves or the promotion of healthy living is not an event, it is a process, it is a lifestyle that we are trying to promote.

“The reality is that the statistics on healthy living, on unhealthy conditions that plague all of us, classified as non communicable diseases (NCDs) or lifestyle-related diseases, didn’t just happen; it evolved over time based on how we live,” he said.

Tufton also suggested that these NCDs have now reached crisis proportion in Jamaica and insisted that the citizens of the country needed to opt for a change.

“We can’t talk about an event to solve lifestyle diseases. It (lifestyle diseases) is by far the most dominant cause of illness and death in our country, so it is not just a passing issue, it is a growing concern and even to the point of being a crisis,” he noted.

Andrew Walcott, event director of Jamaica Moves-Get Moving Corporate Challenge, insisted that being a part of the FLOW/PUMA Fortis 5K, and by extension, the corporate challenge was a massive win for everyone.

“It is a win-win-win, when companies sign up and they join this programme. the runners benefit through better health, the students benefit through the donations and the companies also benefit because when the staff is fit and healthier they perform better,” he noted.

The Jamaica Moves-Get Moving Corporate Challenge is a series of six runs starting with the FLOW/PUMA Fortis 5K and ending with the Reggae Marathon in December. Every time companies register staff for the races and they participate, the companies earn points that goes towards prizes. The staff also accumulate points towards personal prizes when they participate.

The second event in the series is the CUMI Colour Me Happy Run on September 16. That will be followed by Come Run on September 23, in Tryall in Hanover; the Usain Bolt/JN 5K in Falmouth on October 15; the CB/UWI 5K and with the Reggae Marathon on Long Bay Beach in Hanover.

All of these runs are hosted by Running Events Jamaica.

Principal of Kingston College Dave Myrie was very thankful for the support over the years as the students of the school have benefited significantly from the staging of the 5K, which is the brainchild of former head boy of the school Rick Case.

“Over the period we have been helping the Alpha Boys’ Home and numerous students. In terms of welfare support and development we are spending in excess of $5 million to help the youngsters who Kingston College feed through breakfast programmes, through lunch programmes, and through other initiatives,” he shared.

The cost of entry is $1,200 for adults and $500 for children.

— Dwayne Richards