By Jelani Beckles
Copyright newsday
RBC Royal Bank hosted the tenth edition of its Race for the Kids on September 14, with more than 5,300 registrants and hundreds of supporters stepping forward to make a difference in the fight against childhood cancer.
The race is RBC Royal Bank’s major fundraising for its RBC Children’s Cancer Fund, which assists young people diagnosed with cancer across the region. Over the past decade, the fund has received an additional $6.4 million from the staging of the race.
The bank hosted two races – a 15K, which started at 5.50 am, followed 40 minutes later by a 5K race and offered medals for everyone and prizes for top finishers. Avid runners, fun walkers, wheelchair athletes, families, even babies in strollers were seen making their way around the Queen’s Park Savannah heading to the finish line at Queen’s Royal College.
In the 15K event, Alex Ekesa (48 minutes and 47 seconds), Christopher Mitchell (50:37) and Curtis Cox (58:01) were the top male finishers, while Alexia John (1:05.23), Celine Lestrade (1:10:16) and Zara Suite-Stewart (1:11:00) took the top spots among the women.
In the 5K event, Keron Ali (15:46) topped the male category followed by Donnell Francis (15:48) and Jayden Alexander (17:19) while Chennai Moore (19:37), Akeila Skeete (21:35) and Adrianna Garcia (22:16) were the top three female winners.
In the para-athlete category, Shiva Kanhai completed the 15K in a time of 1:20:58 and Levi Mohammed did the 5K in 1:28:48. Antonio Sorzano made a time of 28:56, earning him the top place in the Special Olympics Athlete 5K category.
Among other prize winners on the day were Kiss Baking Company, Nagico Insurance and Phoenix Park Gas Processors Limited for having the first, second and third largest corporate teams respectively at the race. In the schools’ category, St Joseph Convent, Port of Spain’s Covent Strong team earned the title for the largest Secondary School team for the sixth year running.
They were followed by Vishnu Boys Hindu College from Couva and Holy Name Convent, Port of Spain. Among the primary schools, Rosary Boys RC had the largest contingent followed by St Gabriel’s Girls RC School, San Fernando and Sacred Hearts Girls R.C.
There were also special prizes for Team RBC with not only runners winning in individual categories, but also recognition for the top three units that had the most registrants and those who raised the most money to donate to the Fund.
Addressing the gathering, Marc Jardine, managing director RBC Royal Bank TT, thanked those in attendance for supporting the event. “This day is all about helping children in the fight against cancer,” said Jardine. “Hosting this event brings out a remarkable spirit of care, support, and advocacy, uniting many in the fight against childhood cancer,” he said.
While on stage, Jardine took the opportunity to recognise a stalwart in the running community, 72-year-old Susannah Joefield, who has been supporting the RBC Race for the Kids from inception.
Hazel-Ann Marshall, senior marketing manager at the bank, said it was a proud moment to witness the tenth anniversary race. “Growing from 600 to 5,300, this race was nothing short of epic – the sea of blue of thousands, the energy, the enthusiasm and most importantly the overwhelming support.”
