OCHO RIOS, St Ann — Sandals Foundation’s Island Challenge Jamaica got off to a strong start on Friday, with approximately 30 participants from the United Kingdom testing their endurance along Jamaica’s north coast.

The event forms part of a four-day fundraising effort aimed at strengthening neonatal and paediatric healthcare.

The opening day saw participants complete a 10-kilometre run from Rio Nuevo Fishing Beach in St Mary to Sandals Ochi Beach Club, before taking to the water for a five-kilometre kayak along the White River Fish Sanctuary.

The challenge, which runs from October 2 to 5, has brought together athletes, travel industry figures and community supporters, with a target of raising £100,000 to purchase essential medical equipment and strengthen paediatric and neonatal services at Falmouth Public General Hospital in Trelawny.

Sandals Foundation Executive Director Heidi Clarke sounded the horn to officially start Friday’s competition, sending participants off on the first leg of what is expected to become an increasingly demanding journey over the next three days.

For Clarke, however, the physical test is secondary to the lives the initiative is intended to impact. “It’s really all about raising money to buy equipment for our hospitals here in the Caribbean,” she said. “For this one, the Falmouth General Hospital is going to benefit. “We’re really thrilled to be able to support the doctors and nurses working there who are working in conditions that have not been ideal since Hurricane Melissa.”

The intensity off the challenge is expected to increase on Saturday when participants climb the world-famous Dunn’s River Falls before embarking on a 10-kilometre rainforest trek and tree-planting exercise in the Bogue 11 Forest. “This challenge is everything from running to kayaking to hiking… to Trelawny up to Blue Hope then into the Blue Mountains for a hike and sampling some great Blue Mountain coffee on Monday,” Clarke said.

On Sunday, the group will be joined by 13 local participants for a 21-kilometre half-marathon through Falmouth. The route will take them past Falmouth Public General Hospital before continuing through the historic town, Hague and on to Good Hope.

The challenge culminates on Monday in St Andrew, where participants will face a military-style endurance test in Newcastle before taking on a partial hike of the Blue Mountains, reaching approximately 4,500 feet above sea level. Among those taking on the challenge is Men’s Health magazine writer Andrew Tracey, who is participating for the second consecutive year after completing the 2025 staging in Saint Lucia.

Tracey said Friday’s opening leg provided an early indication of just how demanding the Jamaican edition could be, particularly because of the humid conditions. “It was tough, it was really tough. It was so humid,” Tracey said. “The sun came out in Saint Lucia so it was like running up a hill in a spotlight, but we were blessed with a little bit of cloud cover today. It wasn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination, but a little bit more enjoyable.”

This year’s fundraising effort has taken on added significance following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa at Falmouth Public General Hospital last October. The Category 5 hurricane caused extensive damage to the facility, including the loss of approximately 90 per cent of its roofing.

Extensive flooding also compromised electrical systems as well as diagnostic and clinical equipment. Proceeds from the Island Challenge are expected to help purchase equipment and strengthen the hospital’s capacity to provide care for newborns and children.

Peter Davenport of the Daily Mail in the United Kingdom, who is also participating in the challenge, said this year’s event has taken on even greater meaning because of the hurricane’s impact. “Every year is special in what we do, but this year is even more special because of what happened last year,” Davenport said.

“The fact that there is no paediatric care left there now… all the money we make on this trip will go towards that. That’s what it is about. It’s about saving lives.”

Jamaica is the fourth Caribbean country to host the Sandals Foundation Island Challenge, following stagings in Antigua and Barbuda in 2023, St Vincent and the Grenadines in 2024, and Saint Lucia in 2025.

The previous challenges have collectively raised more than £300,000 and benefited approximately 1,800 babies across the region.

Attention now turns to Saturday’s second day, when participants will tackle Dunn’s River Falls before completing the 10-kilometre rainforest trek and tree-planting exercise.