13-y-o shines at Colour Me Happy 5K
THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD DEMOY Small crossed the finish line in 19:15:00 to become one of the youngest winners of the Colour Me Happy 5K Powder Run, held recently in Hope Gardens, St Andrew.
Small, who entered the race as part of the Guardian General Insurance Jamaica group, proudly accepted the first-place prize in the male under-16 category. He placed second in the overall race, coming in three minutes behind 22-year-old G.C. Foster College student Garfield Gordon, who crossed the finish line in 16:15:00. Meanwhile, 14-year-old Sheleca Grant came first in the female under-16 category, crossing the line in 22:10:00; while in the adult category, Victoria Elkins placed first in a time of 25:56:00.
A total of 524 participants signed up for the race from school groups, with AISK taking the top prize for the largest school group with 149 participants. At second place was AZ Preston Hall of The University of the West Indies (UWI) with 133 participants. Other school groups included Campion College, Hillel Academy, Immaculate Conception High School, Jamaica College, Mary Seacole Hall, UWI, Reach Academy and the FMA Club at the University of Technology, Jamaica. “The sole purpose of the Colour Me Happy Run has always been to raise funds to support vulnerable children in our country by providing them with access to education in an environment that truly fosters their growth and development. So, it’s truly heart warming to see so many students turning out each year to support this very important cause. We can never thank the schools and parents enough for their support; it’s very encouraging,” said Christina Hudson, director of the Kind Hearts Foundation.
Touted as the most enjoyable run in Jamaica, the Colour Me Happy 5K Powder Run is an annual event that is organised by the Kind Hearts Foundation
to raise needed funds to build basic schools in vulnerable rural communities across the country. To date, the charity, which is run by the grandchildren of Richard and Diana Stewart of the Richard and Diana Stewart Foundation, has built a total of seven basic schools.
Schools built since 2012 by the Kind Hearts Foundation include D. Franks Early Childhood Institution/
Greenvale Basic School in Manchester, Top Hill Basic School in St Catherine, Duhaney Basic School in St Thomas, Crawford’s Infant Department in Black River, as well as New Wine Basic School, Tranquillity Basic School and Windsor Castle Infant Department in the parish of Portland. The charity will build its eighth school in 2020 with funds raised from this year’s race.