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OLYMPIC DAY RUN SALUTES VOLUNTEERS

The 15th Annual Olympic Day Run will be held on Saturday at the University of the Virgin Islands St. Croix Campus.
The annual event is organized world-wide by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in cooperation with the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), the world governing body for track and field. This year the IOC/IAAF is coordinating with the United Nations in celebrating the International Year of the Volunteer.
The St. Croix event will include the usual two-mile race, followed by a fun/fitness run/jog/walk around the one-mile loop course, for those who choose not to race. Awards will be presented to the top finishers in the race; to the school with the most participants and the V.I. Olympic Committee Federation with the most participants. Special Olympic Day tee-shirts and official Virgin Islands Olympic Pins will be given to the first 100 participants. Each participant will receive a special Olympic certificate.
Participants will also have the opportunity to purchase a raffle ticket for a trip to the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece (one raffle drawing in 2004 at the 18th Annual Olympic Day Run).
"The Virgin Islands Olympic Committee is making a special effort to identify those who have volunteered over the years to keep the Virgin Islands Olympic movement alive and well," said Dr. Marlon Williams, St. Croix Vice-President of the VIOC and founder of the Boys to Men, Girls to Women Foundation. "We want to have as many volunteers as possible, to take part by participating in the run and/or submit their name so that they can be recognized as volunteers and receive their special Olympic certificate."
Hans Lawaetz, president of the VIOC, encourages the involvement of school children in the Olympic Day Runs which are held in St. Croix and St. John annually.
"Without the children to develop into Olympic athletes and the continued support of volunteers, the movement basically doesn't exist," he said.
Olympic Federations have been invited to take part in the event by designating six or more participants to represent the many volunteers who help to make their Olympic sport possible. They have been invited to provide information about their sport by passing out material, showing videotapes, etc. at a special session following the run.
Wallace Williams, of the Virgin Islands Pace Runners, the event organizer, is urging "all those people we see exercising on the roads, the beach, and elsewhere, to take this opportunity to make their workout a special part of the Olympic movement by participating in the Olympic Day Run, which is free of charge."
The Olympic Day Run – St. Croix is a joint effort presented by the International Olympic Committee and the International Amateur Athletic Federation and sponsored by Coca-Cola. In the Virgin Islands it is presented by the Virgin Islands Olympic Committee, hosted by the University of the Virgin Islands St. Croix Campus with the support of the Boys to Men, Girls to Women Foundation, and is sponsored in part by the Coca-Cola Bottling Company and organized by the Virgin Islands Pace Runners.
For more information call: 340-777-0258 or 340-773-5327 or logon to click here.

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