Retina race runners get into the spirit to help a worthy cause

It was an early start to the day for the many enthusiastic runners who turned out in the pre-dawn darkness yesterday to support this year’s Retina Race in aid of Orbis. Organised by EURETINA and sponsored by Novartis, the fifth annual Retina Race took place over five kilometres in a scenic park close to the Bella Center. Drawn from the assorted ranks of ophthalmologists, scientists and exhibitors in town to attend the 16th EURETINA Congress, over 200 runners of all ages took part in the event in perfect conditions. They were cheered on by colleagues, friends and family members. After some gentle stretching and a few last-minute selfies, the runners were soon building up a sweat as they wound their way through the designated course. Maximilian Pfau from Germany was the overall winner in a blistering time of just over 18 minutes. The first female competitor past the post was Cristina Irigoyen from Spain, who finished the race in a little over 23 minutes. While the emphasis of the Retina Race is firmly on the fun aspect of participating and raising money for charity, the runners were still keen to improve on personal best times and perhaps even earn a place on the podium. Speaking on behalf of Novartis, Susanne Diehl, Global Brand Director Ophthalmology at Novartis Pharma AG, said that the participants could be proud of their achievement in running for the noble goal of saving vision. “This is a very important initiative for Novartis and we are proud to be associated with this race since it started five years ago. It is a great way to bring people from all over the world together, in a nice atmosphere and helping to raise money for the vital work of Orbis,” she said. Kathryn Sweet, Head of Corporate Partnerships at Orbis EMEA, also thanked all the participants for playing their part in raising money to go towards much-needed prevention-of-blindness programmes in the developing world. “We are deeply appreciative of all your efforts to raise money for Orbis, to help us in our work to tackle preventable blindness across the world, focusing on Africa, Asia and Latin America. By taking part today you have helped raise more than €6,000 for our programmes,” she said. She noted that Orbis’ work is concentrated in three main areas: training eye health professionals to help them deliver the eye care needed in disadvantaged communities, strengthening the capacity of eye health systems, hospitals, and institutions so that they can provide a better service, and also advocating for better eye health. “To put your participation into context, your efforts today will help us to train 50 community eye health workers in order to screen and treat about 5,000 children for various eye conditions,” she said.