Montego Bay mayor declares ‘Wellness Week’ ahead of Jill Stewart MoBay City Run
ST JAMES, Jamaica — Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Richard Vernon, has officially declared the week leading up to the ninth staging of the Jill Stewart MoBay City 5K, 10K Run as Jill Stewart MoBay City Run Wellness Week.
The event is set to take place in the tourism capital on Sunday, May 4.
“With the privilege I have in the office of the mayor, I want to declare the week leading up to the culmination of the Jill Stewart MoBay City Run Wellness Week,” Mayor Vernon announced.
Vernon was speaking Monday at the launch of the event at Sandals Montego Bay in St James.
He stressed that economic growth cannot thrive in an unstable environment.
Social development, he argued, plays a crucial role. He said as Montego Bay embraces the event, it was important to remember that the city remains committed to productivity. In pursuing this goal, he cited that two essential factors stand out — education and health.
“We have had challenges in both areas. In education, Jamaica has a tertiary educated population of under 25 per cent and it is important that events like these are channelled towards sponsoring education so we can bridge those gaps and improve generally, as a country, but as a city, from a biased perspective,” he said.
“And where health is concerned, we have had challenges with cardiovascular disease and hypertension being among the leaders where persons are unwell. Events like these help us focus on health and wellness. That is why I’m happy with the new model that has been adopted for this event, where great emphasis will be placed on that [health and wellness] component of our productivity because a healthy nation is indeed a wealthy nation,” he added.
“The Jill Stewart MoBay City Run 5k, 10k will help Montego Bay to improve the population of tertiary educated people and it will help Montego [Bay] ensure that Montego Bay is a healthier city,” he said.
The run will begin and end at Harmony Beach Park in Montego Bay and is a charity event for needy tertiary students.
Journalist Janet Silvera founded the event 11 years ago, with this year being the ninth staging, because COVID-19 prevented the 2021 and 2022 editions.
