“I feel proud of myself” – Pavithran, part of SportCares team that finished 13th out of 159 at Bloomberg Square Mile Relay

Shanthana Barthi, Pavithran s/o Mahendran, Sheikh Fadhil and Muhammad Saelfiee bin Abu Kasim teamed up with some ex-national athletes to form the SportCares Foundation team that clocked a time of 1 hour 4 minutes 19 seconds to finish 13th out of 159 teams at the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay. (Photo courtesy of Munirah Razak/Fulford PR)

Marina Bay, Thursday, October 24, 2013 – In a sea of corporate types, the SportCares Foundation relay team stood out with their youthfulness and energy when they finished 13th out of 159 teams at the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay. Each team of 10 runners had to run 1 mile (1.6km) each in a baton relay.

Shanthana Barthi, Pavithran s/o Mahendran, Sheikh Fadhil and Muhammad Saelfiee bin Abu Kasim teamed up with some ex-national athletes to clock a time of 1 hour 4 minutes 19 seconds.

It was a rare opportunity for the youths to take part in such an event.

“I feel very happy because it doesn’t happen too often and it’s hard to get this kind of opportunity. I feel proud of myself, and I feel more confident knowing that I’ve achieved this milestone at the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay,” said Pavithran, a SportCares recipient for eight months.

The SportCares Foundation – the philanthropic arm of the Singapore Sports Council – was the event’s official charity partner. SportCares, an initiative that uses sport as a force for social good, has benefited the lives of more than 630 underprivileged children and youth through customized programmes and workshops. The foundation is one of the recommendations of Vision 2030.

The event organiser, Square Mile Sport, will sponsor SportCares’ CareRunners initiative, comprising two, year-long programmes catering to disadvantaged youths and young adults, providing them with qualified coaches, logistics, transportation and food.

Another SportCares runner, 22-year-old Sheikh Fadhil, clocked a 1.6km lap time of 5:19, less than a minute behind Stuart Haynes of Morgan Stanley, the fastest runner.

“I didn’t do it just for myself, but for the rest of the team. They gave everything they had during the relay so I did my best too, and I’m happy with the outcome. I actually felt really nervous to run with ex-national runners in my team, but I knew I had to complete the run and do my best for SportCares,” said Sheikh.

SEA Games medallist Lance Tan, who was part of the SportCares relay team, believes that sports can be a positive agent of change to benefit society at large. He said, “When I was informed of this opportunity to be part of SportCares team, I immediately jumped at it. I know what I’m doing may not make a big impact but it will definitely impact some people, especially my teammates.”

Laura Reid, Assistant Director of SportCares Foundation, said, “When you haven’t had access to resources, you simply don’t know what you’re capable of. But since we started our initiatives, we see the boys developing a winning spirit, that things are possible with commitment, discipline and the necessary support. And more than anything else, we try to continually build their confidence and the CareRunners programme is another channel for us to do that.”