There is no doubt that Garfield Gordon, Jozanne Harris, Duwell Allen, Paula Sinclair, and Henry Thomas held heart rates of 100-170 beats per minute as they took the top spots in the Crystal Spring Run For Your Heart (RFYH) 5K Run, 5K Walk and the 2K, respectively.
Garfield Gordon races through the tape at the Heart Foundation of Jamaica 2020 Run For Your Heart 5K to take top spot. He stopped the clock at 16:21 on Sunday, February 2, 2020.
Gordon from UCT Steppas secured an early lead, which in turn led to his stellar finish in a time of 16:24, shaving 17 secs off last year’s winning time for the overall run. Kemar Leslie from Rainforest Seafood kept his pace to complete the run behind Gordon in 17:22 and ahead of third place finisher Travis Lingard from UCT Steppas who clocked 18:58.
“The race was a bit challenging for me as I’m coming off a hamstring injury so I'm trying to work back myself into competitive racing and getting back in shape,” shared Gordon. But I knew when I didn’t see anyone behind me at 3K, I had won the race.”
Only the second event of the Running Events road race calendar for 2020, the RFYH 5K/2K took place on Sunday February 2, at Emancipation Park with two brand new routes for participants.
For the 5K run/walk participants travelled from Oxford Road outside Emancipation Park, then left onto Belmont Road, left on Trafalgar Road, left on St Lucia Ave, right on Trinidad Terrace, left on Knutsford Boulevard, left on Trafalgar Road, left on Ruthven Road, left onto Half-way Tree Road to the finish line on Oxford Road. And the Run For Your Heart 2K started on Oxford Road outside Emancipation Park, then left onto Knutsford Boulevard, left onto Dominica Drive, left onto Chelsea Avenue, then left onto Half Way Tree Road to the finish line on Oxford Road.
Heart Foundation of Jamaica 2020 Run For Your Heart 5K Walk winner Paula Sinclair (centre) poses with (from left): Winston Barrett, Vice Chairman of the Heart Foundation of Jamaica; second place Jullite Reeves; third place Shawn ‘Lady Ash’ Ashman and Romaro Samuels, product manager, Crystal Spring Water after collecting her prizes at the Emancipation Park on Sunday, February 2, 2020.
In the highly competitive 5K run female category, it was a fight to the finish. Jozanne Harris, who placed third last year, took the title in a time of 22:23. Although she expressed disappointment in her time that was 32 seconds slower than last year, she’s more focused on the long-term goal of a half-marathon in Miami on March 1.
“Today’s run is a part of a programme to prepare for a half marathon in March,” shared Harris. “Generally speaking the route was fine. I was prepared for the first hill but the second hill presented an unexpected challenge, but I pushed through. So I continue to train and enjoy the road race circuit until then.”
Completing the podium were Janetta Robinson of Pacers Running Club in second in a time of 23:26 and Veronica Elkins in third, 24:44.
Top male walker, Duwell Allen from Shizzlefit, set a blistering pace and retained his title in a time of 25:46, an impressive 44 seconds less than his winning time in 2019. Seasoned competitive walker, Lenworth Hunter also retained second place in a time of 29:39 while Oswy Gayle of UCT Steppas secured third place in 31:32.
Paula Sinclair from UCT Steppas was the first female finisher to complete the 5K Walk in 34:42 ahead of Jullite Reeves of Jamaica Public Service and Shawn Ashman of UCT Steppas who clocked 35:04 and 35:16 respectively.
Donned in his UCT Steppas branded red cape, Henry Thomas finished the 2K in 5 minutes 17 seconds while 7-year-old Gabrielle Wellington, retained her 2K title with a time of 9:26.
Other notable winners were Dai’anna Brown of Running Events Jamaica and Zaundre Rose of Ministry of Culture who were awarded the top performing female and male in the youth segment. Hillel Academy, who had over 150 registered runners, received the award for the largest registered run team while Bank of Jamaica was named Team Champions of the RFYH 5K.
Race organisers were delighted with the level of participation for the Heart Foundation’s staple Heart Month event.
“Today we’ve seen significant growth where participation is concerned. We’re raising funds to offset the cost for the less fortunate who cannot afford heart care. We're also building awareness where your checks and numbers are concerned and promoting a healthy lifestyle, which is invaluable as we also say prevention is better than cure ,” noted Race Director at Running Events Jamaica, Alfred “Frano” Francis.
“So we’ve seen a 35 per cent growth in our numbers, and we’ve been growing steadily and I hope we can continue to grow. I must say, the body mass of the people that I have seen has been decreasing over the last three years and people are more into a healthy lifestyle and eating wisely. But we’re only at the bottom of the ladder and we want the growth to continue in these areas,” concluded Francis.
This year’s race was the fourth staging of the Run For Your Heart 5K, formerly known as the Heroes of the Heart 5K, hosted by the Heart Foundation of Jamaica (HFJ). The race had a total of approximately 1,974 registrants who came out to be “Heart Heroes” and supported the Foundation in fulfilling its mandate of keeping testing and screening costs available to all Jamaicans at a subsidized rate.
According to Karen Anderson, senior manager, marketing and fund development at the Heart Foundation of Jamaica (HFJ) elevating the “Go Red” theme was a part of the day’s success.
“This year we designed a new t-shirt and introduced red capes to engage our ‘Heart Heroes’ of the road,” shared Anderson. “And the response was great. We loved the individuality of each design on the capes that we saw. We also appreciated the comradery from those who wore their own red shirt or our design, signalling their support of heart health. We continue in our efforts to make a healthy lifestyle fun, accessible and family oriented and today’s run is a key objective of that goal. Next year we hope to have medals for top finishers.”
Sponsors of the 2020 staging of the event include Crystal Spring Water, Running Events Jamaica along with JP St. Mary’s, National Supply, Jamaica Mountain Peak, Naturally Brand, MegaJamz98 FM, Caribbean Dreams, Tetley Tea, Bumble Bee Tuna, Pascual Yogurt, Iosif Image Solutions, LASCO Oats, Kraft Punchers, Ensure, SKKAN Media, Push Magazine, Eon & Robbie, New Insight Event Services, Tru Juice, McVities Go Ahead, Jamaica Moves and Pure National Ice.