Trukai eyes big turnout

By ROBINSON LEKA
THE 20th Trukai Fun Run is expected to attract about 80,000 participants from seven centres across the country on Sunday.
The Fun Run, which is Papua New Guinea’s largest fundraising event, is expected to be bigger and better this year following the auctioning and bidding for T-shirts in March.
The safety of participants for this year’s Fun Run will be a top priority, according to organisers and stakeholders.
“The safety of our participants is always paramount,” Trukai Industries Limited corporate affairs manager Ancilla Wrakuale said.
“As much as we try to control the security, the crowd is just too big and we can’t guarantee anything but we try as much as possible to ensure that everyone is safe.”
For Port Moresby, the biggest centre for the event will see an increased police, correctional services and military presence selected checkpoints along the route of the Fun Run, which starts at 6.30am.
First-responders, medical teams and a lost section for children will be additional services for the Fun Run which starts and ends at Ela Beach.
Participants will start along the Apec house and follow the new ring road all the way to the roundabout and follow the same route back to the finish line.
As part of the security measures this year, organisers and Life Care PNG have introduced wrist bands for children so parents can put their contact details to identify their children if they go missing.
The annual Fun Run is a PNG Olympic Committee initiative which started in 1983, before seeing Trukai taking over as organisers from 1999.