(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Long distance runners from across the Caribbean region will gather in Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis on Sunday 2nd of July for the second annual CARICOM 10K road race which has now become a calendar event for athletes in the Region.
The road race, which has become an added feature of the CARICOM Heads of Government Conference, is being held under the theme: “The Health of the Region is the Wealth of the Region.” It has been given tremendous support by several major private sector companies from the Region committed to the promotion of healthy lifestyles.
Nestle Caribbean of Trinidad and Tobago, through its locally developed drink, Supligen , has taken up CARICOM’s challenge to help promote healthy lifestyles among CARICOM nationals through sports, proper diet and regular exercise. The other regional companies which have come on board in support of this healthy lifestyle initiative are: The Caribbean Credit Card Corporation which has its headquarters in Basseterre St. Kitts/Nevis; Banks DIH in Georgetown Guyana; Sagicor Life Incorporated of Bridgetown, Barbados and Blue Cross of Jamaica.
In a recent report to the CARICOM Heads of Government, the Caribbean Commission on Health and Development (CCHD) chaired by University of the West Indies (UWI) Chancellor Sir George Alleyne OCC, identified chronic non-communicable lifestyle diseases in particular obesity, diabetes, and hypertension as the highest cause of death among the population with serious economic consequences due to the high direct and indirect costs of these diseases.
The “healthy life style initiative” is CARICOM’s response to this challenge. It focuses on health promotion through sports, exercise and diet and nutrition that involve personal behaviour change. The development and promotion of the annual CARICOM 10K is an integral part of this strategy.
The CARICOM Invitational 10k will feature the best male and female long distance runners from each CARICOM Member State who will vie for the prestigious CARICOM Secretary General’s Challenge Trophy and just under EC$20,000 in cash and other incentives. The race will also feature a special category for primary school students from St. Kitts and Nevis who will compete for medals and trophies.
The race will begin at 10:00am in the west of Basseterre, at a point along the Old Road on the Island Main Road. The runners will go in an Easterly direction along the Island Main Road towards Basseterre, and will turn on to Church Street at its junction with Cayon Street and end at Government Headquarters.
