Four Seasons Hotel Singapore and Regent Singapore, together with the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) are celebrating 21 years of supporting cancer research through their annual charity running event, Run For Hope.

Since their inaugural run in 1993, Run For Hope has become one of Singapore’s largest charity runs, raising awareness and support for cancer research, and this will be the sixth year of NCCS being the beneficiary.

Run For Hope offers a non-competitive run with two distance options, either a 3.5 or 10km run. It continues to draw support across all sectors: the young and the old, individuals, families and groups, clubs and corporate.

Last year’s Inaugural Executive Challenge – which saw participation from 10 large corporations and their senior management – will return for 2013. Executives are encouraged to take the lead by registering a corporate team of 20 runners or more as part of their CSR efforts.

2012’s Run For Hope event saw more than 10,000 runners, raising close to S$450,000. Organisers hope to draw more participants, to raise even more funds for cancer research. Participants will stand the chance to win some fantastic prizes, including a Four Seasons Hotel stay in the Maldives worth over US$13,000.

Fundraising efforts have already started at both the hotels and to date, over S$3,800 has already been raised by staff, and many more fundraising activities are planned leading up to the November run.

Another way to raise awareness for the Run and the charity cause are the Ambassadors, who took up several challenges in support of the run.

Photo by Lawrence Loh.

3 ambassadors, including 2 cancer survivors and a supporter, were recently challenged to reach out to the busy working professionals at Raffles Place. They were tasked to get 21 sign-ups (in conjunction with celebrating 21 years of running for cancer research) within 1 hour, with no support or promotional booths. Taking this with up with much enthusiasm, they managed 39 sign-ups within the given time. Their efforts were rewarded with a donor donating $20,000 to the cause.

Additionally, more than 20 staff (with the majority being doctors) at NCCS’s Division of Medical Oncology, have pledged to run a total distance of over 250km cumulatively within a period of 14 days, beginning from 1 October. These include a medical oncologist who is currently away on training in New York and is showing his support via this challenge. Progress of this challenge will be tracked via a running app, with

Proceeds from Run For Hope go into the NCC Research Fund, which are distributed via grants to various research projects.

Dr Tan Hiang Khoon, Director for Community Outreach & Philanthropy at NCCS said, “Research saves lives. The strength that an event like Run For Hope has is in its reach, and we can spread our message to individuals, families and corporations. Not many people are aware that 1 in 3 Singaporeans will be affected directly by cancer, and cancer will end up claiming the lives of 1 in 4.”

Run For Hope allows you to play a significant role in helping cancer patients, and at the same time enjoy a leisurely run through the picturesque Marina Bay area. Registration is open for the Run For Hope 2013, which takes place on 17 November 2013. Be sure to follow the latest updates on the Run For Hope 2013 Official Facebook Page.