Visitors to the Elizabeth Marina on Sunday 19th September were witness to a sea of blue t-shirts as over 750 islanders took part in this year’s RBC Race for The Kids raising money for Durrell’s Future Conservationists Programme.
Participants of all ages walked, wheeled or ran 2.5KM and 5KM around the marina, treading in the footsteps of professional triathletes and Olympians who had competed in the Super League Triathlon the day before. And while the Jersey skies didn’t quite match the blue t-shirts of the participants, the weather was a definite improvement from the high winds and rain at the event in 2019.
RBC Ambassador and local hero Ollie Turner, and Hayden Wilde, Olympic bronze medallist were just two of the triathletes that joined instructors from Strive Health Club to lead the runners through their warm-up and cheer them on when the racing kicked off.
This wasn’t the first time Ollie and Hayden had paired up, as they and Guernsey-based triathlete Josh Lewis were also guests of Jersey Zoo on Thursday afternoon to hear about Durrell’s Future Conservationists Programme from Alex Shears and Dr Lesley Dickie. The three athletes were given a tour of the facilities and learned more about how money donated from RBC Race for the Kids will be used to give Jersey’s youth the much-needed opportunity to engage with a world-class conservation organisation and inspire them to take their place in leading the conservation movements of the future. Hayden, Josh and Ollie were also pleased to get up close and personal with some friendly Jersey Zoo residents!
RBC will shortly announce the final total raised for Durrell which will include a generous matching funds donation from the bank.
David Bailey, Chief Operating Officer at RBC Wealth Management in Jersey said of the event: “We were delighted to see another fantastic turnout for this year’s race. The Jersey community has always been incredibly supportive of the event, which brings people together while raising vital funds to support young people – a key charitable focus for RBC. It was great to see so many smiling faces and be able to put on the race after the challenges of the past 18 months, and I would like to thank the teams at Super League Triathlon and 3D Events who worked hard to make it happen in a safe and fun environment.”
Michael Dhulst, CEO of Super League Triathlon added: “It’s part of our DNA that we want to inspire people and that is why Super League is here. Working hand in hand with RBC to make Race for the Kids part of this weekend in Jersey is especially important and has the added benefit that we can do something great for a great local organisation.”