Organisers of the IAS Beach to Beach Race support The Royal Gazette's Have a Heart Campaign and the Live Healthy Bermuda 100 Day Challenge.

Calvin Simons and Wayne Raynor, the organisers for the Bermuda Pacers Track Club's 5K run on Sunday said they have seen their number of walkers jump this year and believe it is due to these campaigns.

They are not the only organisers to see participant numbers jump. Zach Moniz from Lindo's Supermarket said they were not prepared for the response to their walk/run last Sunday.

More than 1,300 walkers and 291 runners took part in the four-mile walk and 10K run from Lindo's to Lindo's. That number is almost last year's.

And Mr. Moniz credits this paper's campaign along with the 100 Day Challenge and the Lindo's biggest loser initiative with raising awareness about fitness.

He said: "It was a tremendous success. The Live Healthy Bermuda 100 Day Challenge, the Have a Heart Campaign, I think all of it's drawing in more people.

"I am convinced the campaigns have had an effect; we can change the shape of Bermuda."

Anyone who missed the Lindo's to Lindo's walk/run should not worry, however, because this weekend they have another chance to get out and add minutes to the exercise journal.

The IAS Beach to Beach race has a challenging course, but it is open to both walkers and runners and is less about time then it is about exercise.

It starts at 9 a.m. for walkers and 9.30 a.m. for runners at Horseshoe Bay Beach where participants cross the beach, go along sandy trails to Chaplin Bay and then up the hill to Warwick Camp entrance.

Then runners and walkers hug the grass edges on South Road to the turnaround point at Astwood Park and return by the same route.

For those who have not registered for the event, Mr. Raynor urged them to come to the Cathedral Hall, in Hamilton, between 3.30 p.m. and 6 p.m. to sign-up.

He said: "There are a couple of first timers and I had one women tell me she signed up because she's in the 100 Day Challenge. "We're doing this for charity so you can still sign upand pick up anumber pick up tomorrow."