Keisha Hill, Staff Reporter

"FOR CORPORATE Jamaica, the Sigma Run is a matchless opportunity for us to get behind a common goal," said Steven Gooden, vice-president and general manager of the Pan Caribbean Asset Management Company Limited, at yesterday's launch of the annual Sigma Corporate Run at the Kingston Hilton hotel.

"We have been very careful in selecting our beneficiaries; we have always focused on offering support for those organisations that have a recognised need and an excellent track record of impacting the lives of a large number of people," Gooden stated.

This year, the renal units of the University Hospital of the West Indies, Cornwall Regional Hospital and the Kingston Public Hospital have been chosen as beneficiaries. The Sigma Corporate Run will partner with the National Health Fund, which will match every dollar raised by Sigma to reach a target of $10 million. The funds raised will go directly towards patient care.

Outstanding work

According to Gooden, each Sigma Corporate Run beneficiary and the people behind them do outstanding work with little resources. He indicated that as a corporate entity, they had the responsibility to support these persons who work at these difficult and unheralded jobs.

The event, which began in 1999 with the first charity being the Jamaica Foundation for Cardiac Disease, will be held on Sunday, March 9, at Emancipation Park in New Kingston. Participation in the run is primarily by way of corporate teams and the entry fee is $45,000 for a team of up to 75 persons and a discounted rate of $600 for each additional person.

The run last year saw more than 7,000 participants and 83 companies registered and donations of more than $4 million in one of the largest road races in Jamaica. So far, 46 teams have been confirmed for the event next month.

Registration to sign up as a corporate team closes on Monday, February 25. For persons who want to participate on an individual basis, the registration fee is $700 and for students $100. Registration for non-corporate individuals closes on Friday, February 29.

As a 10th, anniversary feature, a new race has been added titled, "The Ultimate Sigma Corporate Challenge", which is a special corporate competitive race using world-class championship timing. Each company will nominate its best male and female athlete to compete for the chance to have $100,000 donated to a charity selected by the company.

Changes

Accordingly, the Sigma Corporate Run has added some changes to the event that will, begin with an aerobic warm-up, courtesy of Jam-Fit at 6:30 a.m. The run is scheduled to commence at 7:30 a.m. in front of the Pan Caribbean Building then go left on to Trafalgar Road and Waterloo Road, left on to West King's House Road and on to Constant Spring Road. From Constant Spring Road, left to Suthermere Road, left on Hope Road, right on to Winchester Avenue, right on to Ruthven Road, left on to Half-Way Tree Road and then on to Oxford Road.

The run will culminate at the Emancipation Park with a programme of events, including an awards ceremony and entertainment.

Reward categories include Wheelchair, Individual, Corporate, Ultimate Sigma Challenge, Under-16, Overall Corporate Run/Walk team, Largest Corporate team, Best T-shirt design, Executive Management award and Perfect Roster prizes.

Forms and further information are available on Pan Caribbean's website at www.gopancaribbean.com.