PUT YOUR running shoes on and get down to Portimão this Sunday (October 16) for Mamamaratona 5 – your support is needed!
This enormously popular annual run is organised to support the fight against breast cancer in the Algarve and, this time, the route starts and finishes at Portimão’s ExpoArade, the fair and exhibition centre where this year’s Better Living in Portugal Exhibition (BLiP) is being held.
You can choose your distance – five or eight kilometres – depending on your fitness level and if you don’t fancy running, why not just walk and enjoy the views along the river Arade? It’s not too late – you can download an entry form from www.mamamaratona.com or obtain one by calling 282 089 420 (English, German and Dutch spoken) or 289 807 531 (for Portuguese). Entry forms are also available from your local Junta de Freguesia office.
Registration will take place at ExpoArade this
Saturday (October 15), from 10.30am to 6pm, and Sunday (October 16), from 8am to 9.45am, with the run/walk beginning at 10am.
Due to the success of previous Mamamaratona events, it was possible for the Associação Oncológica do Algarve (AOA) to purchase a digital mobile mammography unit and begin a much needed breast screening programme in the Algarve. The aim of this year’s event is to alert the general public to the problems of cancer, raise awareness of the existence of the mobile mammography unit and highlight the importance of taking part in the screening programme, which commenced in Alcoutim last month (see The Resident’s edition of September 26).
The event is being organised by a group of national and international volunteers, including some members of the AOA. This year, in order to add an extra dimension to the event, the committee has invited celebrated Portuguese and foreign athletes to take part in the run. Some of the names you can expect to see (probably whizzing past you in the fast lane!) are António Fortunato, António Silva, Carlos Cabral, Daisy Dowse, Elly van Hulst, Ezequiel Canário and Fernando Mamede. Rosa Mota and Truus Zandstra have also been invited to participate and confirmation is awaited.
It’s an important cause and by supporting this event, you are also assured a great day out for all the family! Don’t miss it!
