Keisha Shakespeare-Blackmore, Staff Reporter
Some participants in the Pan Caribbean Sigma Run last year. - CONTRIBUTED
SEVERAL HEALTH benefits may be derived from running: weight loss, slowing the ageing process, reduced risk of heart attack and lowering blood pressure. Also, toning the muscles in your legs, hips and abdomen, and as an aerobic exercise, it builds cardiovascular health by working your heart muscle and improving its oxygen supply. It develops your endurance, relieves stress, and burns calories quickly.
PREVENTS AGEING
Running plays a major role in the process of ageing. It prevents muscle/bone loss that often occurs with old age. Research shows that running promotes the human growth hormone.
Remarkably, running also helps to fight diseases, such as stroke, breast cancer, heart disease and high blood pressure. Regular running has become a treatment option for doctors to prescribe to patients who are at a high risk, or early stages of osteoporosis, diabetes and hypertension.
REDUCES RISK OF HEART ATTACKS
Running reduces the risk of heart attacks by strengthening the heart and lowering blood pressure. It lowers blood pressure and maintains the elasticity of arteries incredibly well because as you run, your arteries expand and contract nearly three times as much as usual.
Marcia Sawyer-Forbes, physiotherapist and lecturer at G.C. Foster College in St. Catherine, said when one begins to run there should be no pain. Breathlessness and pain mean the programme is too intense. Several steps must be taken before an individual attempts the running process:
1. Get a medical check-up. This will ensure that you are physically ready to take on the task.
2. Get good running shoes and loosely fitting cotton clothing. The latter enables the body to lose heat.
3. Start running gradually in the cooler part of the day, either early morning or late evening to avoid dehydration.
4. At first attempt, run for 15 minutes and progress gradually. Increase to 30-60 minutes four to five times per week.
Sources: www.ahealthyme.com/topic/
running.about.com/od/gettingstarted/a/101whyrun.htm
Health enthusiasts gear up for Sigma Run
THE HIGHLY anticipated Pan Caribbean Sigma Run has attracted thousands of participants over its eight-year existence and is expected to draw close to 3,000 persons this year. Health enthusiasts, fitness buffs, corporate teams and individuals have begun training and preparations for the event.
Over the years, companies like Life of Jamaica, Bank of Nova Scotia, Catherine's Peak and Supreme Ventures have all rallied around the run with very large teams. This year the run is scheduled for Sunday, April 9. Over 60 corporate teams as well as hundreds of individuals have already signed on to compete in what has become known as Jamaica's largest road race.
THREE SEGMENTS
The race will have three separate segments, the wheelchair, the walk and the run segments. The route will begin on Knutsford Boulevard at the Pan Caribbean head office and proceed on to Trafalgar Road, then to Waterloo Road to Constant Spring into Half-Way Tree and conclude at Emancipation Park.
This year the maternity ward at the University Hospital of the West Indies has been chosen as the beneficiary of the charity event. It is expected that $2.5 million will be raised with which valuable life-saving equipment can be procured. Last year the National Transfusion Service or Blood Bank received equipment valued at $2.2 million for its facilities on Slipe Pen Road, Kingston.
Activities will begin at 6:30 a.m. with a warm-up aerobic session led by aerobic instructor, Karelle Ashley, at Emancipation Park. Other activities include the presentation ceremony and an exciting entertainment package.
