Racing to promote safety

What say you on the issue below?

WITH a finishing time of 1’21:03 in the 21km Men’s Open category of the recent CICM Responsible Care Run, runner Mohd Syahidan Alias, 24, looks set to achieve his target of three hours in his first full marathon.

“I will be running my first 42km in December and I’m taking four months to prepare. This run is part of my training for it,” said the Management and Science University graphic design student from Ampang, who usually trains with his running group in Shah Alam.

The 21km Women’s Open was a breeze for 31-year-old Brittany Lim, who had previously completed several full marathons, coming in first with a time of 1’53:00.

The two runners were among more than 2,800 runners who participated in the second edition of the run organised by the Chemical Industries Council of Malaysia (CICM), an industry group representing the chemical industry in Malaysia

Impressive turnout: More than 2,800 people took part in the CICM Responsible Care Run at Setia Alam, Shah Alam.

“The objective of the run is to promote awareness about responsible care in the chemical industry. We want the public to know that we are committed to maintaining safety standards and we care about the environment,” said organising committee chairman Muhtar Hashim, who is also Ancom Berhad business development and special projects director.

The CICM is the main steward in Malaysia for the global and voluntary Responsible Care initiative, which aims to continuously improve the safety, health and environmental performance of the chemical industry and to dispel any negative image which the public has of the industry.

“A run like this attracts people of all ages and we can reach out to a wider audience, especially those who are in the working age and schoolchildren,” said Muhtar.

ICI Paints (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd managing director and CICM honorary secretary C.W. Goh said that beyond promoting safety and environment protection, they also wanted to advocate good health and wellbeing.

On the run: The CICM Responsible Care Run 2011 took runners on a route around Setia Alam in Shah Alam.

“We encourage our staff, customers and business partners to also participate in the run. Dulux has 65 runners participating this year,” he said.

The run was held in Bukit Jalil last year and this year’s run was flagged off from the Setia Alam Welcome Centre in Shah Alam.

“There is less traffic here so it’s more comfortable for the runners,” said Goh.

The categories available in the run were the Men and Women Open, Veteran and Senior Veteran for the 21 km, 10 km and 5 km distances.

The top 10 finishers in each category received trophies and New Balance cash vouchers.

The Petronas Chemical Group came out tops for having the most runners in top five positions in a special category for CICM member companies.