An opportunity to race against Bermuda Half-Marathon Derby champion Sean Trott while raising funds for a Christian charitable organisation is on offer for local runners if they enter the Word of Life Bermuda 5K Run in Warwick on Saturday morning.

Dubbed “The Chase”, competitors will get a five-minute head start to see if they can outpace Trott, who is behind the idea.

“The aim of the event is to raise awareness and funds for Word of Life Bermuda,” Trott told The Royal Gazette.

“This is a charity that is very close to my heart, as it played a very important role in my childhood, helping to make me into the individual that I am today. I continue to volunteer alongside this charity in various capacities.

“Word of Life Bermuda has been in existence since 1987 and is led by Mark Hall, a name familiar to many in the local community.

“It is a Christian mission organisation that uses the Bible as its basis to teach children and teenagers life principles.

“They do this via clubs held in many of the island’s churches and schools. They also put on annual summer camps for children 8 years of age and older on Grace Island, an island that the charity gained ownership of in 2018.

“Various other events for young people are organised by the charity, including the popular all-night ‘Super Bowl’ event held each March offering team-building activities and training for local teachers and youth workers.

“As one might imagine, it takes a reasonable amount of money to fund these initiatives and to ensure that a quality product is provided for each of them.

“Charities are not immune to inflation and other financial challenges. The aim of this event is to give this charity a financial boost that will enable it to continue doing its work in the local community without having to worry about all of the background noise.”

Trott spoke of how his maiden May 24 victory stimulated him to come up with the idea.

“As a runner, it has always been my goal to organise a local running event,” the 35-year-old said.

“I saw the chance to take this goal and use it to benefit a charity that I’m closely connected with.

“After my win on Bermuda Day, I wanted to use the increased publicity that came with that to benefit others. As a Christian, that aligns with how I aim to live my life.

“Along with the charity, I came up with the idea of putting forward the challenge for myself to give the 5K race participants a five-minute head start and see how many I can beat to the finish line.

“The addition of this challenge to the event has been beneficial in attracting participants.

“It’s early into my running season, but I believe that I can still put up a time in the 16 to 17-minute range. That should give the race participants a sufficient challenge to beat me.”

Trott has set a target to raise funds through private contributions and from entry fees.

“The aim is to reach at least $5,000 in individual donations,” he said.

“After that, for every adult that registers we make an additional $35, and for every child $15. It would be great to be able to raise $8,000 after we’ve covered all our event costs.”

In an effort to encourage as many people to participate, registration for the race is open until the morning of the event.

“We’ve attained $2,175 in individual donations and have 49 individuals registered,” Trott added.

“As with any event in Bermuda, individuals wait until the last minute to register. I would encourage individuals to sign up for the event and give donations via the race website at: www.runsignup.com/Race/BM/Warwick/WordOfLife5kRunAndWalk

“For those that are unable to do so, it won’t be too late. We will be offering late registration at the event, starting at 7.30am.”