By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

FOR the fifth year, the Bains and Grants Town sporting committee will honour the late Member of Parliament Dr Bernard Nottage with their annual Fun Run/Walk and Health Expose.

The fee-for-all event will take place on Saturday, starting at 6am from the Southern Recreation Grounds with more than 300 participants from the community and the various institutions that fall under the jurisdiction of national security, according to race coordinator Sean Bastian.

“Dr Nottage was very instrumental in the development of sports and was a strong advocate for community development,” Bastian said. “We are asking the residents of Bains and Grants Town to come out and be a part of this historic fun run/walk.”

Current Member of Parliament Wayde Watson thanked Portia Nottage, the wife of the late Dr Nottage, for partnering with the committee to continue to host the event in honour of her husband.

“The objective of this fun run/walk is to bring the community of Bains and Grants Town together after all of the ham and turkey we ate during the Christmas and Thanksgiving season,” Watson said. 

“We want people to get an opportunity to think healthy and exercise properly and to get some of their health checks done while at the health walk.”

Watson said Nottage set a standard as an excellent MP and as his predecessor, he has vowed that his representation will always be remembered during his tenure in office. “I would like to thank him for the work he has done,” said Watson, who encouraged his parliamentary colleagues and members of the Bahamas Musicians Union, of which Dr Nottage was a member, to come out and show their support.

Last year, Watson said they had participation from the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, the Royal Bahamas Police Force, the Bahamas Department of Corrections, Customs and Immigration and they are hoping that they will be back again this year,

In response, Nottage expressed her gratitude to the committee for keeping her husband’s legacy alive.

“It’s a pleasure for me to support you in this. I remember when we first started, I participated fully and I will be on the road again with a few of my friends,” she stated.

“But I would like to encourage everybody to get involved. We all like to jump start the new year by getting in some exercise so make it a point to jump start your year with this event.”

Participants this year will get a treat, according to Watson, who revealed that through the sponsorship from Cable Bahamas, they will be staging a raffle for all participants of the run and walk event.

Additionally, every age group category will be presented with a trophy, along with the overall male and female finishers. 

All competitors who complete the course will also receive a commemorative  medal. 

The walkers, covering a 1.8 mile course, will leave Cockburn Street and head east onto Market Street, head south to Wulff Road, then west on Wulff Road to Blue Hill Road, head north on Blue Hill Road to Cockburn Street.

Over 3.2 miles, the runners will leave Cockburn Street and head east onto Market Street, travel south to Wulff Road, head west on Wulff Road to Poinciana Drive, north onto Nassau Street to Meeting Street onto Blue Hill Road north onto School Lane onto Market Street and back. 

According to Bastian, a Health Expo will enable persons to take advantage of a free health check up by certified nurses from the Fleming Street Clinic.

See you there!