It was a fight to the finish for Henry Thomas, Duwell Allen and Odane Davidson who topped the Crystal Spring Run For Your Heart (RFYH) 5K Run, 5K Walk and the 2K, respectively, on Sunday at Emancipation Park.

Thomas from UCT Steppas secured an early lead, which in turn led to his stellar finish in a time of 16:41 minutes. Kemar Lesley from Rainforest Seafoods pushed the pace to complete the run behind Thomas in 17:27 minutes, ahead of third-place finisher Noel Ellis from Campion College who clocked 18:36 minutes.

“The race was a pretty good one. It’s my first time participating in a run since the start of 2019 and I must say that I enjoyed it. I haven’t been in training for a while, hence, I just came out today to see where my fitness level is at and to support the Heart Foundation of Jamaica (HFJ),” shared Thomas.

Both Michelle Riley and Josie Van Der Veen crossed the finishing line for the 5K Run hand in hand in 20:41 minutes, followed by Jozanne Harris who finished in 21:51 minutes.

Top male walker, Duwell Allen from Shizzlefit, set a blistering pace and remained ahead of the pack, crossing the finishing line in a time of 26:30 minutes. Seasoned competitive walker Lenworth Hunter copped second place in 29:32 minutes, while O’Shea Morgan from Shizzlefit secured third place in 29:44 minutes.

Allen, who regards himself as the “Walking Tiger”, noted that even though he did not clock the time that he wanted, he was excited about the win. “Today’s course was a bit challenging due to small injuries that posed a minor setback in achieving the time that I wanted. Even though I did not achieve my target, the win is satisfying. The Run For Your Heart 5K is for a worthy cause; I take pleasure in doing good. By participating in the run today, I know that myself and others are helping to alleviate a problem.”

Anna-Kay Swaby from Shizzlefit was the first female finisher to complete the 5K Walk in 32:04 minutes, ahead of Paula Sinclair from UCT Steppas and Patricia Grant from NCU 91 FM who clocked 35:12 and 36:15 minutes, respectively.

Not to be outdone by the adults, 12-year-old Odane Davidson finished the 2K in seven minutes 11 seconds, while six-year-old Gabrielle Wellington crossed the finished line in 9:49 minutes to become first female 2K finisher.

Other notable winners were Caleb Dixon, who was awarded the top -erforming male in the youth segment, and the Ministry of Health team — who had 59 registered runners and received the award for the largest registered run team, while Digicel Jamaica was named Team Champions of the RFYH 5K.

Runners and race organisers were delighted that the number of persons who turned out to Emancipation Park to participate in the run was twice the number that participated in 2018.

“We’re happy because we have been striving to encourage exercise as a part of having a healthy heart. Three years ago we started this 5K, and we are making improvements each year. The run is our first activity for the entire month of February, which we are celebrating as ‘Heart Month’. We are happy to see the number of persons who turned out to support the run.despite not meeting our original target of having 2,500 persons registered to run, we did double our total from last year,” explained Winston Barrett, vice-chairman at the HFJ.

“The number of persons that came out to run today, it shows that there has been an improvement over the past two years. I look forward to the 2020 staging and more persons coming out and supporting a worthy cause,” noted race director at Running Events Jamaica, Alfred “Frano” Francis. “And we hope that through this event we were able to raise a significant amount of funds, so that we can lower the cost of services offered by the Heart Foundation.”

Winners received prizes from title sponsor Crystal Spring Water, Fidelity Motors, Almond Breeze Blue Diamond, Foska Oats, Jamaica Mountain Peak, Bumble Bee Tuna, Jamaica Macaroni Factory Limited, Pascual Yogurt, and Punchers Fruit Drink. Winners also received gift certificates courtesy of National Supply.

According to product manager for Crystal Spring Water, Romaro Samuels, it was an absolute pleasure to support this event.

“We are truly honoured to be a part of this event. We came on board because having a healthy nation is key.” He said. “We have invested in this partnership and with each purchase of a 1.5ml Crystal Spring Water, one dollar is donated to the Heart Foundation.”

This year’s race was the third staging of the Run For Your Heart 5K, formerly known as the Heroes of the Heart 5K, hosted by the HFJ. The race had a total of 1,500 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 an affordable rate.