Disabled children and their families participated in a marathon entitled “Let’s Walk the Walk Together” on Jeddah’s corniche on Thursday.

The competitive marathon was organized by Jeddah’s Help Center. More than 500 participants from 15 different centers for disabled children took part with the support of the Makkah governor’s office, security patrols, the Civil Defense and the Red Crescent.

Over 1,000 spectators came to cheer the children on.

Maha Al-Juffali, director of the Help Center, told Arab News that the aim of organizing such activities and events was to foster greater awareness and appreciation within the community, as well as give young athletes with disabilities the opportunity to shine.

This event also provided an arena for people with intellectual disabilities to socially interact with one another, as well as serving as a platform to promote and encourage athleticism amongst this segment of the population.

“I want people to come and join us in our next event to make a difference,” she said.

Rashad Barmada, media spokesperson at the Help Center, told Arab News this was the second year in a row that they organized this event.

“It is important to make disabled children feel part of society and make them aware that they are also capable of doing different things,” he said.

Majed Basawad from Badghaish Center came second in the children-on-wheelchairs marathon. Majed has participated in many marathons held for disabled children in Jeddah.

“I was very pleased be able to take part in the marathon despite coming second,” he said.

Ali Al-Suhaimi came first place and Rama Hafiz of Tender Loving Care came third.

Other participants took part in the 1 km (1,000 m) run, which included male participants over the age of 16 years with a specific athletic ability for running.

Ahmed Hakim from Dirat Ajdady came first place in this category, while Ibrahim Lawaal from the Hope Center came second and Abdullah Al-Ghamdi from the Jeddah Autism Center came third place.

The winner of the second category 1 km walk and run contest, which included participants above the age of 10, was Mohammed Turki. Mohammad Hassan from the Help Center came second and Saeed Al-Zahrani from Dirat Ajdady came third.

In the 500-meter competition for children under the age of nine, Faisal Hejazi from Tender Loving Care won first place, Ayoub Al-Aryani came second and Rimas Al-Bishri came third.

In the category of children above the age of nine with medical problems, the first position went to Abdulrahman Al-Zubaidi, while Abdulrahman Al-Harbi came second and Hammad Amer came third. All the winners in this category were from the Help Center.