JEDDAH, 8 May 2005 — Around 500 people, mostly Saudis, participated in Jeddah’s first ‘Healthy Step Festival at Al-Masarra Plan yard, north of the city, recently. Pepsi stars Yassir Al-Qahtani of Al-Qadisiya team, and Abdullatif Al-Ghannam of Al-Hilal team, shared the sports activities at the event aimed to raise the awareness for a healthier lifestyle.
“I believe that exercising and practicing sports regularly is important for everyone, not only sportspeople. I participated in this event in order to illustrate that a healthy body needs to be taken care of through sports,” said Yassir Al-Qahtani. “Being one of the Gulf football Pepsi stars, my participation was to support the company’s aims since the company deals with all kinds of sports effectively and supports international championships to build up the young talents around the world,” he added.
The other player, Abdullatif Al-Ghannam, expressed his pleasure to participate with different people from the society in an event that is directed to all members of the family. He said, “This is the first time that all members of the family participate in a rarely performed sporty race, which is a walk race, although it is a sport that can be practiced anywhere and anytime.” He added, “The Healthy Step Festival goes with the company’s aim to raise the awareness for a healthy body.”
The company intends to do the festival in many other cities in the Kingdom. It has decided to set the festival this year in Riyadh, Alkhobar and Abha. The festival will be held annually.
Participants walked a 1.5-km lap during the daylong event. Children were taken care of. A trampoline was set for them, and painters colored their faces. Meals were given from Al-Tazaj with other light snacks and soft drinks from PEPSI CO.
The prizes given to winners related to forming a healthy body, which were bicycles and skating shoes.
