Olympian Natoya Goule and rising star in long-distance running, Oshane Archibald, copped the top spots in the women’s and men’s run categories at the sixth annual Digicel 5K Night Run in downtown Kingston on Saturday.

This year’s staging was one of the largest-ever turnouts in support for Jamaica’s special needs community.

Goule, who represented Jamaica in the 800-metre event at both the Olympic Games and the World Chamionships, breezed through to the finish line in 20 minutes and 24 seconds to take first place in the women’s category.

Minutes before her, the up-and-coming Archibald of GC Foster College stopped the clock at 16 minutes and 48 seconds as he sprinted home to top the men’s category.

“Tonight, all I wanted was to do better than my 5K race last week where I missed out on first place because I was pushing too hard too early. So I kept pace with the big runners, never let them out of my sight, made my move at the 4K mark, and never stopped running hard until I crossed the finish line,” Archibald, who was breathless at the end, remarked.

Dwayne Graham was second in the men’s section in 16:56 minutes, while third went to Garfield Gordon in a close 16:57 minutes.

For Goule, the run was more about the cause than it was a test of her fitness at the beginning of a new athletics season.

“It felt good, knowing that I just started training on Monday (October 2). I just came here today to support my friends and knowing that my niece is a special needs person, this run was also for her.”

Megan Thompson was second in the women’s run at 22:40 minutes, while Samantha Pryce crossed the finish line in 22 minutes 40 seconds for third spot.

Jason Wynn and Natasha McKenzie were the first walkers across the finish line in the male and female categories, respectively. Wynn came in at 27:02 minutes, while McKenzie clocked 35:08 minutes.

Paralympic champion and Digicel ambassador Alphanso Cunningham sped through in 25:17 minutes to win the wheelchair race.

“My aim was to go out there and deliver a good race as this is the beginning of the training process for me. So I wanted to finish below 20 minutes and even beat all the runners too. That did not happen. Still, I gave it my all because I know that’s what Digicel continues to do for the special needs community,” Cunningham said.

Decorated paralympian Sylvia Grant was the first female across the finish line in the wheelchair category, finishing in 29 minutes 45 seconds.

“I was able to have a better race than I did last year because the roads were dry this time around. Plus, this time I decided to push ahead of my friends and not wait, so that made the difference too,” she recounted.

The fun run was a huge hit among participants, with many having braved the obstacles along the 5K stretch to end up covered in paint after sliding through gallons of the product placed towards the finish line.

Not even Olympic gold medallist and new mom, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, could have resisted the urge to join the ‘funners’ and found herself jumping through tyres, dodging pillows and sliding through paint with the rest of the crew on Saturday night.

“This year’s 5K will be one to remember. The turnout was great and everyone had fun. It’s important to give back to our special needs beneficiaries and at the core, that’s what everyone came out to do tonight,” said Dane Richardson, the chief exectuive officer of Digicel Foundation.