Shelly-Ann Thompson, Freelance Writer
Bank of Jamaica winning walkers.
CLOSE TO 4,000 people took off last week Sunday in the Sigma Corporate 5K Run/Walk from Emancipation Park in New Kingston. The annual event raised more than $1.7 million for the National Blood Transfusion Service (The Blood Bank).
Sixty-six corporate teams, including The Gleaner with 52 walkers and runners participated. The group from GraceKennedy ran away with the team title, while the Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) cashed in with its group of speedsters to top the team walking category.
Bank of Jamaica
Claudette Joseph, captain of the BoJ team said it felt good to have been awarded the Best Overall Corporate Walk Team. Joseph said the staff of BoJ is happy for the team and she has been receiving congratulations from staff for members of the Sigma team.
BoJ captured three trophies - the walk team trophy, plus, the Under-16 Male trophy, won by Dwayne Powell, 15, a guest competitor; and the Corporate Walk Female trophy, won by Catherine Stewart.
Competing in its third Sigma Corporate Run/Walk the BoJ had 62 walkers and runners registered. (Three failed to turn up for the 7:00 a.m. start time.) The team also had 21 guest members. In its first year the BoJ team numbered 12, last year the number grew to 38.
Joseph noted that many of the staff members are sports inclined. She is a member of the company's netball team, plus many others play football or volleyball for the bank. Thus when it was time for training it wasn't really a problem.
WHY THEY COMPETED:
I did it because it's giving the Blood Bank support. I did it before, twice by walking, and I'm thrilled to be a part of it.
John-Matthew Sinclair, Application Specialist, Information Systems Department, placed 60th overall
It was for a worthy cause and thanks to Pan Caribbean for initiating this concept. I have competed for at least five years and I am thrilled to. We came out in numbers and really did our best.
Marlene Schorlemmer, language translator, placed 3rd in Corporate Walk Female
BoJ team member Catherine Stewart, was the first female walker to cross the finish line
After placing fourth last year, Stewart, a 33-year-old porter at the bank, vowed to train in order to capture the top spot.
After last year "I said I could really win if I gave it my all. I wanted to do this for me and I did."
GraceKennedy Limited
Members of GraceKennedy Limited said they were not surprised on copping the Best Overall Corporate Run team, as it was well deserved. Instead, some members are a bit disappointed that they lost out this year for the Best T-Shirt award that went to City of Kingston Credit Union.
With 240 registered members from 41 companies the GraceKennedy crew was also given the largest team trophy. Carrol Christian, manager of Grace's Group Sports, Arts and Culture, said that this year wasn't the first time that the company had captured the overall corporate run trophy as they also did last year. Plus, for three years in a row they have won the largest team award and the T-Shirt award for two years consecutively. She said the members had trained individually, and most of the members are involved in business house sports activities such as football, netball, cricket and swimming.
This was GraceKennedy's fourth year participating in the Sigma Corporate 5K Run/Walk. Christian said the company's "support for anything that is beneficial to the least fortunate persons of society" is the main reason why they have become an annual corporate participant at the event.
