Rory at CariFin
It’s not every week we get the opportunity to have a CEO of a major Financial Institution participate in a main sporting event. But in 2007, GHL Irish-born CEO Rory O’Brien, made an appearance for his promised participation in the 3- lap Men’s Cross Country race – the main event at CariFin Cross Country which took place at Sevilla Golf course in Couva on Sunday July 8th .
When Marcia Pierre, GHL team leader announced that her CEO – Rory O’Brien wanted to participate in the main event, I was quite surprised. We all have an idea of the hectic schedule someone like Rory, CEO of a large financial corporation with subsidiaries throughout the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean and also in the UK, would have. As such, I thought it was mere contemplation rather than an actual intent.
When it was announced to his team that he was a few minutes away, driving into Sevilla,
there was that air of anticipation in GHL camp.
In grand style, the MC announced the presence of the senior managers representing the various institutions and then Rory’s arrival, which was well appreciated by all in GHL prize-winning decorated tent. This visibly heightened the mood and frenzy on these parts of the Sevilla grounds. He was met by Howard Dottin, GHL’s Chief Financial Officer and Alfred Patrick, an avid marathon runner (who is famous for running (2) Marathons, in (2) consecutive days, in (2) countries) and the rest of the GHL posse.
Rory was “cool” and outgoing, posing with members of his team for pictures and interacting on a one-on-one basis with each of them. However, we waited to see if he could maintain his light-hearted attitude after running 3 laps around Sevilla’s 2.2 K undulating course – and with an extra piece added for the start and finish, there was a total of 7.5 K which was no light-hearted matter. The question was, “Could he make it?” and if so, “Would he have to struggle to make it or finish with dignity?”
We were awed with his performance - Rory represented his team quite well, completing
the meandering course in decent time to help the GHL team win the CariFin Male team prize - the top 5 lowest aggregate times. Also making a huge contribution to the Team’s winning position was CFO, Mr. Howard Dottin, who finished the race in twelfth place.
But the evening was not done yet for Rory as he was part of the GHL tug-of-war crew, heaving and pulling to help his 8-member team in the semi-final round of the event.
Rory’s active involvement in CariFin 2007 helps prove my point - there are a lot of younger employees in the financial services sector, who have a less demanding schedule and have difficulty finding the time to train or the unwavering commitment to achieve a reasonable fitness level. Rory should be an exemplar to all – we can manage our professional and other family commitments, and maintain our health and fitness. Who knows? With consistent effort, we may even be able to run for 29 minutes and finish in the top 10 of a major Sporting event.
Best Tent 2007!!!
GHL captures best tent title for yet another year.
GHL seems to have propriety rights to the Best Tent Title, it’s like they have the winning formula for this thing! They have won the title for two years in a row and brought some new life and excitement to the whole competition. Probably it’s just the fact that they pay attention to details.
“We are taking the Best Tent Title – again this year”, team captain Marcia Pierre was saying long before CariFin Day.
2007 Best Tent winners GHL tent showed the kind of style and décor that make you take notice from afar; it showed the thought and intent of a team who was about performing well on the field and looking good; a combination that no doubt takes away from mundane-ness at some outdoor events.
As I look closely at pictures I can see a definite theme, a story line, a great design, a level of creativity. The wording on their tent was “Welcome to the GHL Galaxy” with three purple stars on each side of the banner. There were hanging decorations in the tent depicting images of every member of the team cut away in a star like formation done in full color that gave the tent the feeling of team spirit. And draping each corner from the top of the pole to the bottom was a linear banner with the first names of all team members, again with purple stars at the side of the names.
Purple and white cloth was draped all around connecting from the corners and the center
and the company’s banner was prominent in the mix, with other silver star-like cut outs hanging inside the tent complementing the overall décor “GHL Galaxy” - at Sevilla
The Republic Bank team placed great emphasis in their tent decoration and was in place and started to decorate their tent as early as 8 a.m. They transformed the drab aluminum post and canvas top into something representing their outdoor location on CariFin Day.
First timers grace Kennedy seemed to “get it” from the word go. Armed with banners, buntings and balloons and in bee like fashion, every member gave a hand to get the job done, even the Country manager Aprile Akim and the kids worked feverishly to make the Grace Kennedy presence felt from very early in the day.
A good attempt came from CLICO who had their banners, bunting and balloons and did a good job at decorating their tent to ensure their return to CariFin had that visual effect which no doubt set the stage for bigger things to come.
CARIFIN CROSS COUNTRY AND FAMILY DAY 2007 RESULTS
The top 10 winners of the Fun Walk in the Male category:
Placing Name Institution Time
1 Micheal Luces Central Bank 17:18
2 Anthony Wallace RHAND 17:56
3 Terrence Worrell Republic Bank Limited 18:10
4 Clem Jubrajsingh RBTT Bank Limited 18:28
5 Steve Samuel RBTT Bank Limited 19:00
6 Kevin Faustin RHAND 19:07
7 Elton Scott Central Bank 19:17
8 Marlon Durham RHAND 19:29
9 Darrell Sealey First Citizens Bank 19:44
10 Keith Blackman RHAND 20:23
The top 10 winners of the Fun Walk in the Female category:
Placing Participant Institution Time
1 Michelle Redon-Girod Republic Bank Limited 19:09
2 Neta Ventor Central Bank 20:42
3 Luanne Springer GHL 20:59
4 Michelle Gonzales CLICO 21:11
5 Janelle Benjamin First Citizens Bank 22:07
6 Ruth Frazer-Munroe GHL 22:31
7 Brenda Green RHAND 23:05
8 Sakinae Muhammed Republic Bank Limited 23:34
9 Roslyn Keller Republic Bank Limited 23:35
10 Patricia Pereira GHL 23:42
The top 10 winners of the Fun Run in the Male category:
Placing Name Institution Time
1 Anton Robinson CLICO 11:39
2 Selwyn Octave First Citizens Bank 13:53
3 Terrence Worrell Republic Bank Limited 14:40
4 Nigel Gaines Central Bank 14:50
5 Bally Ramdial GHL 15:20
6 Jason Ameerali CLICO 18:14
7 Darrell Sealey First Citizens Bank 19:01
8 Javier Camacho Republic Bank Limited 20:45
9 Shastri Girwar Republic Bank Limited 25:26
The top 10 winners of the Fun Run in the Female category:
Placing Participant Institution Time
1 Angela Parris CLICO 15:06
2 Darelle Rouses Central Bank 15:42
3 Leah Emmanuel RBTT Bank Limited 16:56
4 Suzette Hope First Citizens Bank 17:36
5 Kemba Hackett Central Bank 18:14
6 Khadja Antoine First Citizens Bank 18:34
7 Salomi Hope First Citizens Bank 19:00
8 Kathleen Mountoute-Rem CLICO 20:04
9 Felicia Gillces First Citizens Bank 20:23
10 Gan Ping Chang ALGICO 20:45
The top 10 winners of the Cross Country Run in the Male category:
1 Nikosi Mc Leish RBTT Bank Limited 25:57
2 Rodney Julian ALGICO 26:05
3 Alvin Alleyne Central Bank of Guyana 27:50
4 Mark Thomas Republic Bank Limited 28:03
5 John Warren GHL 28:19
6 John Donaldson Grace Kennedy 28:27
7 Dorwin Smith Central Bank of Guyana 30:08
8 Miguel Mohammed CLICO 31:34
9 Rory O’Brian GHL 31:41
10 Sean Brown First Citizens Bank 31:47
The top 10 winners of the Cross Country Run in the Female category:
1 Natalie Suite Unit Trust Corporation 22:47
2 Vernetta Sandiford Central Bank 23:22
3 Susannah Joefield RHAND 23:52
4 Susan Russell RBTT Bank Limited 25:17
5 Esla Anthony Central Bank 25:52
6 Vernessa Lee Foon CLICO 27:24
7 Aquila Gomez Grace Kennedy 28:13
8 Michelle Redon-Girod Republic Bank Limited 28:22
9 Yolande Vickles RBTT Bank Limited 28:42
10 Mumtaz Amarali Republic Bank Limited 28:56
AGE GROUP CROSS COUNTRY RACE RESULTS
Age Group 21-30 years - Male:
1 Keston Charles Central Bank
2 Kirt Granger Grace Kennedy
3 Selwyn Octave First Citizens
Age Group 21-30 years - Female:
1 La Toya Khan CLICO
2 Yolanda Morris-Noble Guyana
3 Shiromani Balgobin GHL
Age Group 31-40 years - Male:
1 Steve Samuel RBTT Bank Limited
2 Nigel Gaines Central Bank
3 Javier Camacho Republic Bank Limited
Age Group 31-40 years - Female:
1 Jennifer Samuel-Weeks GHL
Age Group 41-50 years - Male:
1 Howard Dottin GHL
2 Micheal Luces Central Bank
3 Christian Hannays RBTT Bank Limited
Age Group 41-50 years - Female:
1 Cherylin Cadogan RBTT Bank Limited
2 Mayon Dragon Central Bank
Age Group 51-59 years - Male:
1 Clem Jubrahsingh RBTT Bank Limited
Age Group 51-59 years - Female:
1 Neta Ventor Central Bank
Age Group 60 & over - Female:
1 Grace Oblington CLICO
Welcome Speech at CariFin 2007
Delivered by Senior Human Resource Manager - Republic Bank Limited
Denise Boodram
Good Afternoon everyone, and welcome to CariFin 2007, the 15th edition of this event of FUN, FRIENDSHIP AND FITNESS.
This event today is the culmination of:
four warm-up events that took place in and around Port of Spain – called the Urban Challenge
a Cricket and Football Competition held at the Republic Bank Sports Club grounds, and
a 40 mile Torch Run from Central Bank Port of Spain, to Republic Bank, Couva.
This year, we have tried to improve communication and better spread the information of CariFin by introducing our online email magazine called CariFin e-news, and by maintaining a blog together with our website.
We have also done video interviews with:
Catherine Kumar – Managing Director of RBTT Bank,
Wendy Ho Sing - Deputy Inspector of Financial Institutions Supervision Department, and
a few of our winners in the recently concluded Urban Challenge
and these are posted on our blog and on the website Youtube.com.
We had a good and challenging season with the discovery of new winners, and today looks good in terms of competition for both the male and female cross country.
We want to thank everyone who has supported us thus far as we continue to encourage the staff of the financial services sector to live a more active lifestyle and take responsibility for their personal health and fitness.
We are aware that such individuals have an increase capacity to performance on the job, as well as the ability to influence other staff members to live an active lifestyle.
That has been the main reason we have persisted for 15 years.
Today, we would like to welcome specially, Grace Kennedy Trinidad and Tobago limited, who are with us for the first time. Grace Kennedy, we welcome you and trust that you will feel at home with us today.
Also, we welcome CLICO who have missed a few CariFin events but are with us this year. We are pleased to have them with us again.
And not forgetting everyone else here today, the volunteers, the teams, the captains and the senior personnel with them today. Welcome.
We are poised to have a very exciting and interesting day and I am glad that you all could be here to share it with us.
Thanks again for taking the time to come to Carifin 2007 and at this time, I would like to formally open Carifin 2007!
THANK YOU & HAVE FUN !!
Suite doubles, Mc Leish’s dream comes true and Rory Obrien in top 10, Latoya Khan crowned Ms. CariFin at CariFin Country & Family Day.
Natalie Suite of UTC and Nikosi Mc Leish of RBTT took the well-earned CariFin 2007 titles on Sunday July 8, 2007, at the Sevilla Golf Course.
The course for the Republic Bank’s “Make it Happen Loan” Women Cross Country race, seemed like child’s play for Suite. At first she led, then she ran away from the quality field of women along both laps of the challenging, undulating Sevilla Course. She dominated the race and at no time was she under any threat of serious challenge by the keen opposition.
The main men’s event painted a different picture. The First Citizen’s Cross
Country race had (2) key challengers - Nikosi McLeish of RBTT and Rodney Julien of ALGICO. McLeish ran out fast and did what he had to, to maintain the lead. Julien made sure it wasn’t a one man show as he shadowed McLeish closely for most of the first lap, and kept in close contact for the remaining two laps. To reduce the threat of a possible surge from Julien, McLeish maintained his impressive pace to the finish. This was McLeish’s third attempt at CariFin’s main title - in 2005 he finished 10th, then in 2006 came 2nd, and this year he had the sweet taste of victory at the highest level in CariFin.
Rory O’Brien - CEO of Guardian Holdings Limited, created history as he became the first CEO to participate in the 3-laps Cross Country event. He was a serious competitor and earned a position among the enviable “top 10”, with a 9th place finish.
Latoya Khan of CLICO had a rather charmed evening, her face was all smiles as she realized that she had won the Ms. CariFin crown from a line–up of (7) girls representing various participating institutions. Poise and confidence oozed
from her as she answered her questions eloquently and without hesitation, and showed her co-ordination and fitness as she followed every move of the instructor.
These featured highlights topped a day filled with drama and excitement since the start of the novelty events at 11.20 a.m. The Official Opening was underway promptly at 1.30 p.m., with the National Anthem of Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana. Mrs. Denise Boodram – Senior Manager Human Resources, Republic Bank Limited, delivered the welcome address, which was followed by the athlete’s oath.
The co-ordinators kept a tight, well organized program with the formal athletic events starting at 2.15 p.m. with the kids’ 1-lap; followed by Walking race at 2.45 p.m.; the Fun Run, at 3.45 pm., and then the Male and Female Cross Country. The final event started in good time at 5:30 p.m. and as all participants, peers and supporters brought the curtains down, in good style, at CariFin 2007.
Report on Ms. CariFin
Ms. La Toya Khan of CLICO had a rather charmed evening; her face was all smiles as she realized that she had won the Ms. CariFin crown.
Currently celebrating its 15th year, CariFin is about the promotion of a more active and healthy lifestyle among
employees in the Financial Services sector. This year was the 4th edition of the Ms. CariFin event which was held during the Carifin Family Day on Sunday July 08, 2007 at the Sevilla Golf Course, Couva.
La Toya won from a line–up of seven (7) women representing various participating financial institutions, who included Kemba Hackett of CBTT, Khadija
Antoine of FCB, Michelle Perryman of RHAND, Sakina Muhammad of RBL, Anouk Leewoo of GHL and Gail Wellington of Grace Kennedy.
In her bio La Toya stated that what drives her to be healthy is not merely the cosmetic, but that leading an active lifestyle is great for her health and mental well-being. She believes that working out is great to alleviate stress and any bad mood, as evidenced by her hobbies which include weight-lifting, hiking, dragon boating and spinning
In the aerobic routine La Toya was an early crowd favorite, drawing energy from the cheers, responses and support of spectators, as her every move was in sync with that of the instructor and the rhythm of the music.
In the question and answer phase, poise, grace and confidence oozed from La Toya as she answered her questions eloquently and without hesitation, and found favor on all three judges’ score cards. At the end she maintained her immense popularity as she was lifted by two of her team mates to celebrate not just hers, but a big CLICO victory.
CARIFIN FAMILY DAY 2007
PROGRAMME OF EVENTS
Time Event
11:00 a.m. -1:30 p.m. Adult & Kids Novelty Events
1:30 – 2:15 p.m. Official Opening
o National Anthem of Guyana
o National Anthem of Trinidad and Tobago
o Opening Payer –
o Athlete’s Oath -
o Welcome by -
o Meeting of Teams by Chairman of CariFin
2:15 – 2:45 pm Kids Race (under 19)
2:45 – 3:15 p.m. Walking Race
3:15 – 3:45 p.m. Fun Run (1 lap around course)
3:45 – 4:30 p.m. Make it Happen - Female Cross Country Race
4:30 – 5:15 p.m. First Citizens - Male Cross Country Race
5:15 – 6:00 p.m. Ms. Carifin Competition
Other Events
11:00 a.m. -5:00 p.m. Kids Novelty/Other Events
11:00 a.m. -5:00 p.m. Health Fair (adults – free pressure testing, kids – free eye screening)
Refreshments are on sale as follows:
• Food Tent - “Traditional Sunday Lunch”, hot dogs, fries, fried chicken, pop corn, and an assortment of preserves, mangoes etc.
• Sevilla Club House - Alcoholic Drinks
Note: History is going to be created as for the first time in CariFin a CEO will be participating in the three lap undulating course in the CariFin male cross country event. Mr. Rory O'Brien - CEO of Guardian Holdings will be that person.
Fun, Fitness & Friendship (CariFin Cross Country & Family Day)
Fun, fitness & friendship will be in full bloom and it will mushroom come Sunday July 08, 2007, at the CariFin Cross Country & Family Day at Sevilla Golf Course. This is the culmination of four warm-up events that took place in and around Port of Spain - the Urban Challenge and a 50 mile Torch Run from Central Bank Port of Spain, to Republic Bank, Couva.
A whole day affair on Sunday July 08, 2007 at Sevilla Golf Course in Couva, will take things to higher level. The morning kicks off with team leaders heading directly to their tents, with their decorators in tow, to decorate them. Tents will take on the colors, style, character and personality of the individual institutions, weaved into the theme of the event - “Fun, Fitness and Friendship”
Novelty Events
As the morning heats up and the sound of the DJ starts to blast from his boom box, everything goes into a higher gear, as the Adult and Kid’s Novelty rolls out. Teams that are interested in these events are asked to be punctual, so that these events can begin on time.
The novelty events comprises seven events that will have you riveted and in stitches as events switch from Human Chariot (2 males 1 Female), to piggy back races (1 male 1 female), to 4 x 40 meters relay (2 males 2 females). Tug o War (5 males 3 females), Pass the Ball (2 males 2 females), Four legged mixed (1 male 2 female) and Retro Dance Off (2 males 2 females - Best dancing foursome)
The children would not be left out, with bouncy castles, face painting, tin pan alley, sack race, 20 meters running races and lots more.
The Official Opening – (meeting of teams)
The official opening is a critical junction of the Games. Here is where we transition to the more traditional, athletics events that may very well be the highlight of the games, where we find out who are the champion male and female runners of the CariFin Cross Country.
But, more importantly, the official opening gives the teams the option to show off, with their Ms. CariFin leading. The only other purpose of the other members in the line up is to meet with all the other teams in the line-up.
The Athletic Events
The athletic events start with the kid’s race which is one lap around the Golf Course. Approximately 2.2 K long with a piece from the club house to start of the course and from the course to the finish line making up a 3.1 K course.
The members of the Financial Institutions will have their turn on the course, starting with the walking Race. This event attracts the most amount of support. You may not be able to handle the undulating terrain, running for three (3) laps in the men’s race, or two (2) laps in female race, but the most active of us could try the walking race.
The fun run is for joggers/runners with a beginner status, which means that at your level of fitness, you can run an 11, 10 or 9 minutes per mile, but the three laps or two laps is a bit of a challenge.
Women Cross Country is two laps around the 2.2 course and the piece from the club house to the course, which forms the start of the race, and then back to the finish line, making up the 5.3 K for the women’s race. This race is usually done in 23 / 24 minutes. Last year’s winner Natalie Suite did a time of 23.37, followed by Wendy D’arbasie of CBTT in 24.13 and Mumtaz Amarali in 25.27. This year, the competition we saw at the Urban Challenge is more evenly balance, with little space and time separating the main competitors. Again, like the Urban Challenge Mini Cross Country, it’s anybody in the top five races. We have seen Ayanna Mc Clean of CLICO surprising everyone and winning on the undulating terrain. But it’s anybody guess at this time, if last year’s winner, Natalie Suite, will return to defend her title of last year. Natalie Suite is one of Road Runners top female runners and is ranked probably in the top seven in road running in Trinidad.
The men’s cross country is a little different from the women, in that the men have a three lap journey around the course. We have passed through an era of truly great runners for this CariFin cross country - great runners like
Lander Rodney, Curtis Cox of COLFIRE (who won this event four times in a row) and Joel Bharrat of First Citizens, (hree times straight) A good time for this event is 24 to 25 minutes. Last year’s winner, Richards Jones of UTC, won in 25.13, Nikosi Mc Leish of RBTT did 27.0 and Devon Croke of UTC managed 28.32. Richard Jones indicated that he will not return to defend his title at CariFin. Again this opens the door wide for a new champion. A nicer guy than Nikosi Mc Leish to win this race is hard to find, but a cool and welcoming personality and good manners is no credential to win on this tough course. That has to be translated into grit and determination, “nice boys don’t win cross country”- you may have to show you have guts! Guyana is sending Alvin Alleyne, 2006 fourth place finisher. Having CariFin this late in the year would have given him something of an edge, to add some extra training to his regimen, that might give him a better chance at the title.
Ms. CariFin
The Final event on the day’s card is the ever popular Ms. CariFin, in its third year. Here we see young ladies representing their institutions, going through a two minutes aerobics routine, then a question and answer segment. This year’s questions are based on the history of CariFin. These representatives are expected to have participated in one of the athletic or novelty events, in order to qualify for the Ms. CariFin competition.
Amarali and Warren take Carifin Urban Challenge 07
Mumtaz Amarali and John Warren of Republic Bank and Guardian Holding Limited respectively completed the four events of CariFin Urban Challenge to accumulate the lowest aggregate points to win the overall Urban Challenge.
Amarali placed 4th among the 21 females that took part in all four events of the One Lap Savannah Run, 3rd in the Green Mile, 4th in Mini Cross Country at the Hollows and came back and won in her pet event the Aerobics Burnout. Her total points accumulated were 12.
Early favourite Vernetta Sandiford of CBTT who won all the running events,
faltered badly in the Aerobics Burnout, of the 21 women in the Burn was eliminated very early, giving herself very little fighting chance to the more overall balance competitors like Amarali and Russell. Her final aggregate score was 22 overall placing her third.
Susan Russell of RBTT who was right there with the early leaders with a three, two, two respectively in the running events, was able to get nine points from the Aerobics Burnout to clinch second place.
In the male category very much the same situation repeated itself with dominant runner of the series Rodney Julien of ALGICO who also won all three running races of the men who participated in all four events took an early exit in the Aerobics Burnout. This accounted for him losing the first place to again a more balance competitor in John Warren of GHL who scores were 2, 2, 2 and one, giving him a total of seven points.
Rodney Julien ended up with a total of 15 points only able to garner 12 points from the Aerobics Burnout. Third place performer in the men Andre Corbie of RBTT got scores of 3, 3, 3 and 7 to total 16 points overall.
The top ten female and male are as follows.
Female
1 Mumtaz Amarali
2 Susan Russell
3 Vernetta Sandiford
4 Michelle Redon - Gerod
5 Vanessa Lee Foon
6 Yolande Vickles
7 Susannah Joefield
8 Karen Dowden
9 Leah Emmanuel
10 Neta Ventour
Male
1 John Warren
2 Rodney Julien
3 Andre Corbie
4 Steve Samuels
5 Alfred Patrick
6 Joel Phillips
7 Dave Massiah
8 Keston Charles
9 Colin Ramdathsingh
10 Christian Hannays
The Carifin Cross Country and Family Day of which this Urban Challenge is precursor of will take place on Sunday July 08, 2007 at Sevilla Golf Course – Couva starting from 10.00 am with Adult and Kid’s Novelty events, followed the Official Opening and then go into the cross country running events and the featured event Ms. Carifin will be crowned.
