One of the experienced sports administrators in the coun­try Cathy Wong has urged women to come out in numbers and participate in the 2019 Island Chill Suva Marathon set for July 27 at Al­bert Park, Suva.

Speaking during the official launch as one of the guest speakers Wong said women need to take part in physical activities to reduce the rise of NCDs.

“Physical activities have taken me to who I am today. It has taken me out of the comfort zones and made me grow in all shapes and dimen­sions,” Wong said.

“A physical activity overcomes any­thing that you do. What sports actu­ally does to female athlete is that if you play 3 or 4 times a week once chances of getting depression drops to about 30 to 32 per cent.

“And even the chance of getting breast cancer drops by 20 per cent and the chances of breaking your bones drop 28 per cent as well as the chances of getting type 2 diabetes drops 47 per cent. That’s only pos­sible if one exercises at least three times a week so imagine if we exer­cise five times a day.

Edited by Leone Cabenatabua