| Lyna Mohamad, Daniel Lim & Azaraimy HH |
AMMOUTA Younes and Yvette Jacobine Maria Kortekas emerged the winners of the 10km male and female categories respectively in the National Day Run 2018 (ND Run 2018) for the Brunei-Muara District yesterday.
Ammouta recorded a time of 33:18 while Yvette registered 47:21.
Organised by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) in collaboration with the Brunei Darussalam Athletics Association to mark the 34th National Day Celebration, the run started and ended at the Taman Haji Sir Muda Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien in the capital.
In the men’s 10km, David Patton was placed second clocking a time of 36:10 while local long distant runner Sefli Ahar came in third with a time of 36:12. Abdul Malik bin Hidup took fourth spot at 36:14 and Samsul bin Zamri finished fifth with his run clocking at 36:40.
In the women’s 10km, second place was Vanessa Lobb clocking 47:50 and Airinee Liam third recording her time of 48:44. Leong Sheo Wee Yee came in fourth and Dawn Lovel fifth clocking 49:13 and 51:21 respectively.
The National Day Run is an annual event which encourages the community to practise a healthy lifestyle by engaging in sports and recreational activities continuously.
Besides enlivening the National Day celebration, the run aims to instil solidarity, understanding and cooperation among all levels of the community for the development of sports in the country.
The running activity also brought together various circles and levels of the community particularly youths, the elderly and children.
Similar events took place in other districts the same day – in Belait District the run took place at the Taman Persiaran Jalan Sungai; in Tutong District at the Tutong Sports Complex; and in Temburong District at the Temburong Bumiputera Complex.
Leading the Brunei-Muara District was the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Awang Haji Aminuddin Ihsan bin Pehin Orang Kaya Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Haji Abidin.
In the Belait District, it was led by Legislative Council (LegCo) member YB Hanapi bin Mohd Siput; in Tutong District by LegCo member YB Haji Ramli bin Haji Lahit; and in Temburong District by LegCo member YB Haji Emran bin Haji Sabtu.
A total of 2,122 participants registered for the run, which saw Brunei-Muara recording the most participants with 1,591 runners, followed by Belait with 190 runners, Tutong 237 runners and Temburong 104 runners.
The run began with a warm-up session followed by the flag-off in two stages based on categories namely the ‘Men and Women 10km Open’ (only in Brunei-Muara District) and the ‘4km Fun Run Open’.
Winners for the men and women open categories took home cash prizes and medals.
The rest of the runners were awarded with certificates of participation.
MCYS will continuously carry out sports-related projects for the community to instil a healthy lifestyle.
Meanwhile in the Belait District, the start and finish line for the run was at the Recreational Park located along Taman Persiaran Jalan Sungai. A total of 190 runners took part in the ‘4km Fun Run Open’.
Accompanying the guest of honour YB Hanapi were Haji Mohammad Zamree bin Haji Junaidi, Acting Belait District Officer; and Kamil bin Lamat, Head of the Belait District branch of the Youth and Sports Department.
In the Tutong District at the Tutong Sports Complex, the 237 participants started the event with an aerobic exercise (as in the other three venues) before the guest of honour YB Haji Ramli officially kicked the run off.
In the Temburong District, some 500 National Service Programme (PKBN) trainees, trainers and staff also participated in the run.