The inaugural Pho3nix Kids Run Ghana was a blockbuster affair, with more than 500 children coming out to experience the joy of sport at the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park in Accra on the 10th February.
Five hundred thirty-five kids attended the maiden event, well over the target, and testament to a successful partnership between Pho3nix Foundation and the Ono Sports Foundation which recruited schools, parents, teachers and media to encourage children to join the free fun run.
Runners aged five to 16 years undertook age-appropriate distances from one kilometer, two kilometers, three kilometers, five kilometers, and seven kilometers, crossing the finish line to win medals for participating. Cash prizes ranging from 500 to 1000 Ghanaian Cedi also went to the top contenders. Joseph Bankam and Rashid Baffoe from Sekondi in the Western Region and Kumasi youth such as Dzakobo Elvis, Kadija Sulemana, Sulamatu Sulemama, Lawrentia Appiah, and Ester Yakubu distinguished themselves as future distance running talents.
The event received media coverage from national broadcaster GBC Ghana as well as from the Ghana Olympic Committee.
Miss International Africa 2023 winner Mercy Jane Adorkor Pappoe was on hand to motivate the young runners. The Ghanaian beauty queen and model is also a triathlete and manager at Ono Sports, and said she was overwhelmed at the participation numbers, given it was the first Pho3nix Kids event in Ghana and Africa.
Pho3nix Kids Fun Runs Ghana is the Pho3nix Foundation’s first foray into mass participation events in Africa and part of its worldwide efforts to encourage youth involvement in sport. Pho3nix Kids participation programs inspire and motivate children to take part in physical activity, making a child’s first sporting memories inclusive, educational and above all, fun.
More than half a million children have now participated in a Pho3nix Kids program across nine nations on three continents since its inception five years ago, putting Pho3nix Kids at the forefront of positively impacting children’s lives through unwavering commitment to inspire and empower children through sport.
Two more Pho3nix Kids Run Ghana events are slated for 2024:
- June 15 (Baba Yara Park, Kumasi)
- August 24 (Tamale Stadium, Tamale)
The finish line beckons, but it is only the beginning for these children as they join the worldwide Pho3nix movement in the lifelong love of sport.