An anticipated 700 or more runners and walkers will be out on the roads on Sunday morning for one of the Island’s biggest mass participation events.

As the Lindo’s to Lindo’s 10K Road Race and Walk gets underway, the man who helped start the whole thing more than 28 years ago will be busy behind the scenes ensuring everything goes smoothly.

Lindo’s supermarket boss Giorgio Zanol, a keen runner himself since the late 1970s, is part of the team that has planned the event since January.

He oversees the Lindo’s Group of Companies and personally works on the shop floor in the Devonshire store, but Mr Zanol, 72, still makes time to be part of the event organising team.

In the past two months that work has included planning drink stations, marshals and direction signs, arranging 1,000 goody bags, event T-shirts and prizes, and promotional work.

Mr Zanol is quick to praise race directors Candace Roach and Carole Collard and Bermuda Diabetes Association’s Trevor Madeiros, without whom the event would not be possible.

Giving back to the community, and seeing so many people and families come together to enjoy exercise and a shared experience, are among the reasons why he personally assists.

“We at Lindo’s are very proud of this race. It is more than a race, it’s families getting together. When I see all the people at the end of the race out there in the car park talking and feeling happy, it makes me feel good. It makes all the work we put in worthwhile.” he said.

In the past nine years the event, with the assistance the Mid Atlantic Athletic Club, has secured more than $100,000 for the Bermuda Diabetes Association. A further $250,000 has personally been raised by Mr Zanol for the same cause.

Mr Zanol is heartened by the goodwill companies and sponsors show each year and by the small gestures of individuals. “It is touching to me when an old lady comes in the shop with $5 or $10 for the Diabetes Association. It makes me and all the people at Lindo’s feel good.”

The event had humble beginnings three decades ago. It was originally a five-mile race around Devonshire that ended at the Lindo’s store.

“It started as a small event where families could get together for an hour and have an orange juice drink at the end in a safe environment in our car park,” said Mr Zanol.

When the company bought the second Lindo’s store in Warwick in the mid-1990s it was decided to run the race between the two stores, starting in Warwick and ending in Devonshire. Over the years its popularity has grown, peaking at just under 1,500 participants a few years ago.

This Sunday’s race starts at 8.30am. Online entries can be made at www.racedayworld.com. Late entries will be accepted tomorrow at the National Sports Centre Pavilion between 10am-12.30pm