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Traveling Runner
Reggae Marathon, Half-Marathon & 10K
By Bob MooreMarch/April 2009
For the Washington Running Report
Bob Moore (below), Debbe Kirk of Washington Running Report place 2nd in their age groups at the Reggae Marathon 10K
We started our Reggae Marathon excursion at BWI, when we met Jason Knight from Arlington, VA doing warm up laps chasing his 18-month-old son Zachary. Jason was also accompanied by his wife, Jennifer, and is one of 25 Washington, DC/Baltimore area runners who made their way south to run the "Marathon in the Sun." You can run a marathon almost anywhere, but to "drag" your family to the beautiful island of Jamaica, to support you, for what Runner's World listed as one of the ten best marathons in the world, is an unbelievable running delight. Yeah, mon! Air Jamaica whisked us away and we arrived in Montego Bay in just three hours. An hour and a half shuttle ride later, we were walking the beach in Negril.
Every runner should have a "bucket list" of runs . . . Disney, Bay to Breakers, Boston, one of the RnR events. None of the others on the list will compare to the adventure in Jamaica in early December for the Reggae Marathon event. Since they offer a Marathon, a Half Marathon, and, new this year, the 10K, there is no reason to pass this one by.
Choices of places to stay are plentiful. A couples all-inclusive, a family all-inclusive, or you can save some money and head down the road toward Negril to one of the family-owned places like Footeprints, where you will have an opportunity to really get to know the people. We were told it is the difference between the institutions, or staying with the family.
The temperature is the difficult part. We left mid 20's with an expectation of snow on the way and landed in a land of early summer-mid 80's during the day, mid 70's at night. High humidity is standard. Why else would they start a race at 5 a.m.?
Clear green water, warm ocean breezes, Red Stripe beer (it tastes even better in Jamaica, mon), parasailing, encounters with beach vendors, lots of food with jerk seasonings, lazy afternoons, and pre-race runs on Negril Beach Road are all part of the Jamaican experience.
It is a "People's" Marathon
Many of the local people volunteer to help at the race. One Kingston resident we met travels three hours at her own expense to volunteer and has done it all eight years; her friend is volunteering for the first time and wants to run the marathon next year. Neither story is unusual.
We met several international runners. People came from eleven countries to run this event.
Of the 25 people who made the trip from the greater Washington/Baltimore/Northern Virginia area, five ran the marathon; 14 the half marathon, and six the 10K. There is an event for everyone.
Friday begins perhaps the most memorable running weekend of your life. Imagine packet pick-up in the sports complex of one of Jamaica's best resorts. Bright blue Jamaican sky, cool breezes, and the always present reggae music set a wonderful environment for the expo. The expo is an excellent place to do some Christmas shopping. We finally had to restrain ourselves.
Friday evening was the "World's Best Pasta Party." Chefs from different resorts met under tents at the race expo at Swept Away Resort and competed to see who could serve the best pasta. It was an all-you-can-eat, jammin' good time. We were glad we only had to do a 10K the next day; the food was incredible.
The media briefing was encouraging. The Assistant Director of Tourism said that tourism in Jamaica is alive and well. Jamaica just received four top honors from the World Travel Association, including the Leading Travel Destination in the world. Due to the recent success of Jamaican athletes in Beijing, the budget for sporting events is capturing more than its fair share of the total tourism budget. So start your training now because next year will be the 9th Reggae Marathon, and they have plans to make it even better.
I casually challenged each person I met from the different parts of the world to rate the Reggae Marathon--not for how they performed, but from how the race organizers performed. Taking into consideration the location, the accommodations, the organization, the course, etc. The unofficial overall rating, on a scale of one to ten, was an 8 to 9.
It was the overall consensus that, except for perhaps the Disney Marathon, this race start ranks as definitely one of the best.
A 4:00 a.m. awakening starts you off thinking you may have made a mistake. But arrival at the start with the other participants starts to bring you around. A Rastafarian drum band performs a pre-race drum prayer; a Jamaican version of a wide screen shows scenes from a Bob Marley video, playing the international hit "One Love," which makes you think you arrived at a party. As Race Director Alfred Frances gets the crowd psyched with some "national pride" announcements, it is clear Jamaica has dominated the attendance when he asks, "Jamaica, are you in the house?" The ensuing rowdiness never subsided until he yelled "Go" as the crowd made its way down the "tunnel of torches" along Negril Beach Road. Volunteers lift their torches to form a tunnel as the runners head off on their journey. Even though it is 5:15 am, the roads are lined with spectators, both locals and visitors from the resorts, steel drum bands, and exuberant volunteers handing you Jamaica's exclusive "bag of water."
Happily, as the race creators originally had hoped, Jamaican long-distance running has definitely improved. The 10K was dominated by the Jamaica High School Championship.
There were more female finishers than men. Kemoy Campbell took honors with a time of 32:32; 2nd and 3rd place came across together at 32:35. Natoya Goule won the female division with a PR 36:41.
In photo, race director Albert Francis (right) congratulates a winner.
The half marathon, which had the largest participation, was won by Kirk Brown of Jamaica in 1:10:41. Despite the heat, Terri Rejimbal of Florida won the female division, helped by chasing her goal of "beating sunrise." She missed her PR by one second, at 1:23:18. After talking to some people she left out on the course, after sunrise, you realize why she had that goal.
The marathon was also dominated by Jamaicans. Veteran Caribbean marathoner Linton McKenzie clocked in at 2:40:08 for the men; Arieta Martin finished in 3:28:16 to take top honors in the female division. Both marathon winners won beautiful Bob Marley and Rita Marley statues.
All runners were treated to wet towels and water, beer, and coconut juice. Drinking out of the coconut shell was a treat, as we tried all three. The chip coral emptied onto the beach at Long Bay Beach Park for a cooling dip in the sea.
The party continued Saturday evening, with the awards ceremony in Negril. After prizes and awards were handed out, the reggae band Third World performed for the runners and spectators.
And Jason Knight? He was satisfied with his time, which was just two to three minutes slower than his Marine Corps Marathon time last fall. He attributes this to the heat, which really cooked once the sun came up. No worries, though. He was in the pool, at the swim-up bar, at Beaches resort less than 30 minutes after finishing. Jason says that he plans to return in 2009, when both he and his wife will run the half-marathon.
In photo, Twlya Paulos finishes the half marathon. 
Full results of the three races, as well as information about the event, can be found on http://www.reggaemarathon.com/index.php. The 2009 event will be December 5.