![\"walk-run\"](\"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/walk-run.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Oniel Williams, who has spent the last six months training in Kenya with Olympic champions and Mackey Williams, a runner who has been participating in marathons since 1986, were the first runner and walker to cross separate finish lines at Atlantic Medical\u2019s 16th Annual Funwalk on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The men were just two of 2,000 participants who turned out for the annual event, which brings awareness to chronic diseases like cancer and diabetes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve pretty much spent the last few months of my life with some great competition,\u201d said Oneil, who took part in the run \u2013 the first in Atlantic Medical\u2019s Funwalk history.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came out here just for a practice run. It wasn\u2019t really competition for me. From here, I will try to qualify for the Commonwealth Games. That\u2019s really why I\u2019m home. So I figured since I\u2019m here, why not give back and train at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meantime, Mackey said the event was a great way for him to train for more competitive races.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis race has become a part of my training,\u201d said Mackey.<\/p>\n
\u201cI usually do long distance running. But I said I will take part in this just to support the people. It\u2019s also to encourage others to know that their health is their wealth.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proceeds from the Funwalk go to the Cancer Society of The Bahamas and the Bahamas Diabetes Association.<\/p>\n
Atlantic Medical Marketing Coordinator, Lisa Bellot and Lynnaire Musgrove \u2013 members of the walkathon committee \u2013 organised the event.<\/p>\n
Atlantic Medical\u2019s Business Development Manager, Darren Bastian, who is also on the committee, said the yearly event continuously attracts participants eager to get involved in what he describes as a \u201ctruly worthy\u201d cause.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people in our country are affected by those two diseases, cancer and diabetes. So, it makes sense for us to support those two worthy charities. We\u2019ve been doing it now for quite a while and over the time, through this event, we and corporate Bahamas have helped to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to those charities. Atlantic Medical doesn\u2019t keep a penny.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many professional athletes lined-up at Montagu Beach to pound the pavement.<\/p>\n
Participants had a choice of two routes \u2013 one for competitive walkers and runners and another for those keen on walking for fun.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we first started this event, we had many people with extra large T-shirts, but today, years later, the shirts have gotten much, much smaller,\u201d said Atlantic Medical General Manager, Lynda Gibson.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s an indication that for a lot of people who have been walking with us, their lifestyle change has really improved their overall well being. This is the message we want to give to the Bahamian community.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) had the most participants, followed by Scotiabank.<\/p>\n
Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) General Manager Kevin Basden was one of the many participants from corporate Bahamas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is something I definitely think we need more of in terms of the health and wellness of the nation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re looking at two diseases which compact the community at large. I think they are great charities, in terms of donations. But the bigger picture is that we get the message across of the health and wellness of our nation, in terms of diet and exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s walk also saw a lot more men, youth groups and sporting groups participate than usual.<\/p>\n
Winning the \u2018Over 60\u2019 women\u2019s walk category was Delora Moncur of Scotiabank, who said she jogs just about every day and believes that getting older doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you have to slow down.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, it\u2019s always a joy,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m not in a competition. I do it for myself. It\u2019s all about a healthy lifestyle for me. I enjoy looking and feeling good. Once we live life healthy, we live much longer and we won\u2019t have the problems of all the diseases that we experience if we would eat properly and exercise like we should.\u201d<\/p>\n
Atlantic Medical is one of the leading insurance agencies in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Oniel Williams, who has spent the last six months training in Kenya with Olympic champions and Mackey Williams, a runner who has been participating in marathons since 1986, were the first runner and walker to cross separate finish lines at Atlantic Medical\u2019s 16th Annual Funwalk on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":60596,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[19,131],"class_list":["post-60595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-health","tag-sports-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}