Organisers of the IAAF Bronze Label Okpekpe International 10km Road Race have unveiled three charity partners for the fourth edition of the race which holds this Saturday in, Edo State.
Spokesman for the race, Dare Esan, revealed yesterday that the first charity run will be for breast cancer which will be anchored by Miss Nigeria in conjunction with Sebeccly Cancer Care.
”Sebeccly Cancer Care is dedicated to cancer prevention and committed to helping more women survive breast cancer in Nigeria.
“They want to use the Okpekpe 10km road race to raise awareness about the causes and prevention of breast cancer as well as screen the rural women for breast cancer,” said Esan.
The second Charity will be for the orphanage by ‘We Care Trust’ which is a pet project of Mrs Lara Oshiomhole, wife of the governor of Edo State.
“Mrs Oshiomhole is so passionate about children in the orphanages and has partnered us to let people know their plight as well as raise funds for them while the third charity run will be for safer roads and fuller lives by the Federal Road Safety Commission,” Esan further revealed that tne Saturday’s race is not about the prize money alone.
“The Okpekpe International 10km Road Race is not all about running for the prize money. All over the world people have seen the power of sport to raise funds and awareness about any project or cause and road running has been a very veritable vehicle for achieving this purpose,” said Esan.
“This year we are introducing another dimension to the race as many of the runners will be racing for humanity. While the elite athletes will traditionally be running for the money, others will be running for the charity of their choice to promote the awareness about breast cancer, about children in the orphanages who need our care and trust and of course about our roads which we want to make safer,” Esan continued who added that opting to run a race for a charity is a fantastically rewarding experience.
“Apart from the three charities offering guaranteed entries to run in the race on Saturday, each charity also offers their own benefits to their fund raisers,” explained Esan.
“A charity that benefits enormously from runners efforts is Hope for Children. Hope raises about £1m per annum but nearly £100,000 of that comes from runners at the Edinburgh Marathon. The charity supports 300 projects around the world. This is the culture we want to start building with the Okpekpe International 10km Road Race.”
Esan has thus called on potential runners who hitherto lack the motivation to run to come out there at Okpekpe and run for their chosen charity, raise awareness and funds for it and get fit.
“Don’t underestimate the ‘feel good’ factor if you’re raising funds for a good cause. The idea that you’re helping people less fortunate than yourself or supporting a worthwhile service can have a powerful effect on your sense of self-worth. And it will put a little extra petrol in your engine for that challenging last mile or so,” said Esan.
