MORE than 1,000 people took part in the 2008 Olympic Run yesterday, with about 150 of them being Special Needs Participants.

However, this was a significant drop from last year when more than 2,000 people took part.

Some Olympic runners felt that the reason for the reduced number was the lack of publicity given to the event.

Mohammad Sirazzudeen, a teacher from Omar Ali Saifuddien Secondary School (SOAS) and a fourth time runner participant stated: "Last year there were 600 students participating from SOAS, today you can only see a few." He added that by the time they were informed of the event, school holidays had begun and so it was a difficult to contact the students.

Another participant working with the Civil Service Institute stated that he was only informed of the event two days ago and stressed that there should have been more publicity.

Hj Rosli Haji Mohiddin, the vice-president of the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council (BNOC), said that this could be because of the school holidays as many families were out of the country, adding that the National Sports Festival being held at the same time may also have something to do with it.

Othman Haji Mokhtar, a salesman, suggested it would be better if the Olympic Run was given priority before other events as it is an important international event.

He also mentioned that he had participated in the Climbathon held in May which was organised by Bluewater Event Management and the Ministry Of Culture, Youth and Sports, and said that the publicity surrounding that event was excellent.

However, despite the minor setbacks, there was a lot of excitement surrounding the event.

Hj Noorishanuddin, the champion of the Wheelchair Open said that he was happy that Bruneians have shown a tremendous effort for the past few years.

He also hoped that parents who have children with any type of disability would encourage them to participate in such activities as it would give them a chance to interact with other people.

Peachy, 22, a member of the Visually-Impaired Organisation of Brunei, said that she hoped more people would join such activities in future. Her mother was happy with the event and felt that it was just the right amount of people. Peachy is currently studying at the University of Brunei Darussalam for a degree in Brunei Studies. She hopes to become a councellor one day.

Narissa, a teacher, says that she brings her children to these events to encourage health awareness. She added that in today's world people tend to get lazy as we have cars to take us from one point to another and participation in such events will promote a fun-filled family activity. She also added that she was touched by the tremendous effort put in by the Special Needs participants.

Bill Stephenson, a biology teacher from Australia, was especially impressed by the show of support from a lot of Bruneian families.

"This event was done for fun and laughter, this is what it's all about," he said.

It was his first time in the country and he hopes to see more participants supporting the event in the near future.

The event was attended by His Royal Highness Prince Hj Sufri Bolkiah, BNOC President . His Royal Highness also officiated at the prize-giving ceremonies.

This event was a joint effort organised by BNOC and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.

It was held to commemorate the birth of the Modern Olympics in April 1896 in Athens. The BNOC has joined forces with government and non-governmental organisations all over the world to promote peace and tranquillity through sports.The Brunei Times