A record number of persons have been confirmed to run tomorrow morning in the 11th Sigma Corporate Run, an annual charity event that will attempt to raise $14 million dollars to lift the standard of health care at the Bustamante Hospital for Children and other paediatric wards across the island.

Pan Caribbean Financial Services, in collaboration with the National Health Fund and Shaggy's Make A Difference Foundation, will join corporate Jamaica in the five-kilometre (3.1 miles) run-and-walk event.

It is scheduled to start at 6:30 a.m. in front of the Pan Caribbean Building on Knutsford Boulevard.

Healthy support

Tanya Miller, vice-president marketing and new-product development at Pan Caribbean Financial Services, stated that more than 100 companies and more than 9,000 persons have been confirmed to participate in the event.

"The outpouring of support for the Bustamante Children's Hospital has been phenomenal," Miller said. "We expect healthy competition as we get together for the purpose of nation building."

Accordingly, the intersection of Knutsford and Oxford Road will be closed to traffic as of 4 a.m. tomorrow. Persons may enter New Kingston from the northern end of Knutsford Boulevard or other access roads.

The run will start on Knutsford Boulevard and continue on to Trafalgar Road, Waterloo Road, West Kings House Road and on to Constant Spring Road. From Constant Spring Road the route bends into Suthermere Road, then Hope Road, on to Winchester Avenue, Ruthven Road, Half-Way-Tree Road and on to Oxford Road, where it culminates at Emancipation Park with a programme of events to include the customary awards and entertainment.

Reward categories

For the first time this year, there will be an open-walk award that will be presented to the top three males and females who complete the walk in record time.

Other 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.

Last year, more than 8,000 participants from 85 corporate companies raced and raised approximately $12.2 million for the renal units of the University Hospital of the West Indies, Cornwall Regional Hospital and the Kingston Public Hospital.