The Deputy Governor’s 5K walk/run, in which 1,248 people took part, raised $50,000. The funds will be donated to Special Olympics Cayman Islands.
The money will go towards paying for Special Olympians and their chaperones to go to the World Games in California next month.
“Huge thanks to everyone who participated in any way in making this event such a success,” said Deputy Governor Franz Manderson. “What we ended up raising was way beyond what we expected to collect.
“And I can say, undoubtedly, this would not have happened without the support of all – the public, and the large number of sponsors and volunteers. Our target was $20,000 for the Special Olympics team and we far exceeded our expectations.”
Commenting that this year’s DG’s 5K challenge, held at the end of April, was an “outstanding success” on every level, Special Olympics Cayman Islands Chairman Nick Freeland said, “SOCI truly appreciates being the beneficiary of the profits from this year’s event, which will take a great deal of pressure off our World Games fundraising team. I would particularly like to thank the DG and Ministry of Health Chief Officer Jennifer Ahearn, who agreed to support us so early on in the planning for this year’s event.”
He also lauded all efforts that have helped raise public awareness for Special Olympics and the athletes, and also paid tribute to family members and volunteers.
The winner of the run, with a time of 17 minutes, 55.8 seconds, was Sean Olsen. Joanna Manzi was the fastest female runner, finishing in 19:32.7, and placed sixth overall.
The best male runner among civil servants was J.P. (Jacobus) Hanekom of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority with a time of 19:31.5; he placed fifth overall. Sue Morris of the Cayman Islands Further Education Centre, who clocked 27:45.8, was the top female runner among civil servants.
Last year’s winners of the award for the most civil servants and the highest percentage of civil servants repeated in 2015. The Immigration Department fielded 39 participants to retain their title for the second year as the government agency with the highest number of participants.
The National Archive had 100 percent participation and remained the top government agency with the highest percentage of participants.
Three new trophies were instituted this year. The Health Services Authority, with 49 participants, won the award for statutory authority/government company with the highest number of participants; The Public Service Pension board, with 100 percent participation, won the statutory authority/government company with the highest percentage of participants; and Maples, with 59 participants, won the corporate cup for the private sector company with the highest number of participants.
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