As an alum­nus of AS­JA Boys’ Col­lege, San Fer­nan­do, watch­ing the "Green and Gold" flood the streets in the vicin­i­ty of the school for the 2026 5K Run/Walk, Sun­day, was a mo­ment of im­mense pride.

It was a vivid re­minder that sup­port­ing my al­ma mater is not just about do­na­tions; it is about show­ing up, lac­ing up, and mov­ing to­geth­er to­ward a health­i­er fu­ture.

The pulse of the school: Why phys­i­cal ac­tiv­i­ty mat­ters

See­ing the cur­rent stu­dents, staff, and fel­low alum­ni tack­le the 5K course high­light­ed a fun­da­men­tal truth: a healthy body is the best com­pan­ion to a sharp mind. By pro­mot­ing phys­i­cal ac­tiv­i­ty, AS­JA Boys’ is cul­ti­vat­ing a cul­ture of longevi­ty.

From a health per­spec­tive, the ben­e­fits for the school com­mu­ni­ty are clear:

· Heart Health: Push­ing car­dio­vas­cu­lar lim­its.

· En­durance: Pro­mot­ing the "nev­er give up" at­ti­tude as taught in the class­room.

· Men­tal Well­be­ing: De­clut­ter­ing men­tal stress of work [teach­ers, ad­min­is­tra­tors, and par­ents/guardians], and study­ing [stu­dents]

· Dis­ci­pline: The grit re­quired to fin­ish those fi­nal kilo­me­tres is the same grit need­ed to suc­ceed in life af­ter grad­u­a­tion.

The Alum­ni Con­nec­tion: Sup­port­ing the Lega­cy

For those of us who have walked the halls of AS­JA, re­turn­ing for the 5K was an act of sol­i­dar­i­ty. Our pres­ence on the start­ing line sends a pow­er­ful mes­sage to the cur­rent stu­dents: "The broth­er­hood does not end when you get your cer­tifi­cate."

The ca­ma­raderie felt dur­ing the run was in­fec­tious. It bridged the gap be­tween gen­er­a­tions, al­low­ing:

· Past Stu­dents to men­tor and share laughs with the next gen­er­a­tion.

· Par­ents and Teach­ers to in­ter­act as part­ners in health, not just in aca­d­e­mics.

· The Gen­er­al Pub­lic is to wit­ness the dis­ci­pline and uni­ty that AS­JA Boys in­stils in its men.

A shared vic­to­ry

Sup­port­ing my al­ma mater through phys­i­cal ac­tiv­i­ty is re­vi­tal­is­ing. When we run to­geth­er, we are not just cov­er­ing dis­tance; we are strength­en­ing the so­cial fab­ric of our com­mu­ni­ty.

To the or­gan­is­ers and my fel­low alum­ni: thank you for keep­ing the flame alive. We did not just run five kilo­me­tres; we ad­vanced the AS­JA lega­cy.