Pink Run organiser calls on athletes for support

Pink Run organiser and the Jamaica Reach to Recovery (JR2R) president, Sandra Samuels, wants more prominent athletes to help spread cancer awareness by becoming ambassadors for the annual event, which is scheduled to take place on October 29.

According to Samuels, Olympic Games medallist and breast cancer survivor Novlene Williams-Mills was an excellent boost as ambassador for Pink Run last year, helping to bring out over 6,000 participants while assisting to raise $9 million for the cause.

Samuels contends that sports and individuals acting as ambassadors are good vehicles to deliver information to the general public about the illness.

"(Novelene) was not at the run last year because we were just coming out of COVID and she has her babies, so she could not have come, but she did a lot of online work for us and interviews for last year," Samuels said.

She encouraged other athletes to join the initiative to help further spread awareness about breast cancer.

"That would definitely push more people to come out because the bottom line is that we are trying to educate, and they are influencers. So even the (social media) influencers, I would encourage to be a part of it, but the athletes, from a point of sports and healthy lifestyle," she said with a high tone of hope in her voice.

Title sponsors, Insurance Company of the West Indies (ICWI) and JR2R aim to raise $10 million from the annual charity 5K race, Pink Run.

The event has been a calendar event for the past 15 years, with all proceeds going to the JR2R, the breast cancer support arm of the Jamaica Cancer Society.