Pre-race pasta party
Yeah, mon, the Reggae Marathon in Jamaica is the place to be! A trip to this island paradise to run a marathon or half-marathon as the weather turns cold in December could be just the right mix of exercise and luxury. Fly in, run your race, and stay a few days (or a week!) to recuperate on the white sands of Negril's seven miles of beachfront and let the warm waters of the Caribbean soothe your tired legs.

Jamaica is a little more than three hours from the Washington, DC metropolitan area, with convenient, direct flights on Air Jamaica out of BWI Airport. It couldn't be easier.

In it's fourth year, the Reggae Marathon has all the features and amenities of a big-city marathon, with a unique Jamaican flavor throughout. The pre-race pasta party the night before the race is held under the stars at Couples Swept Away, one of the top resorts in Negril, and chefs from many of the high-end resorts compete to produce the best pasta dishes, cooked to order before your eyes. The highly accurate and dependable ChampionChip race timing system is used to time both events, and split times and results were posted to the Internet every three minutes during the race. Folks back home could track the progress of their friends and relatives running the race.

Pamenos Ballantyne (32) of St. Vincent and the Grenadines
The races are well supported by the Jamdammers Running Club, headquartered in Kingston, and more than 200 volunteers, many of whom come from as far away as Kingston at their own expense.

Race headliner Pamenos Ballantyne of St. Vincent and the Grenadines orchestrated his third victory at the fourth annual Reggae Marathon held in Negril, Jamaica, on Saturday, December 4, 2004.

Ballantyne (29), the course record holder and 2001 and 2002 Reggae Marathon champion, proved tough to beat as he cruised past Jamaican steel drum bands, craft markets, and ocean-front resorts for a Caribbean seaside win in 2:28:05. Arieta Martin of Jamaica won the women's division in 3:14:05. Both champions earned prize money to the tune of USD $1,500.

Ballantyne, dubbed "King of the Caribbean Roads," by the media for his monopoly of Caribbean island long-distance road race wins, ran the race's early stages at a conservative 5:40-per mile-pace. Ballantyne initially blended in with the pre-dawn pack of elite Jamaican marathoners and the lead pack of half marathon runners who shared the 5:15 am start and first 9.5 miles of the course.

Eventually emerging from the pack at the half-marathon turnaround point, the trio of Ballantyne and Jamaicans Phillip Edwards and Andrew Gutzmore continued down the road toward Green Island, the marathon's turnaround point. Deciding that it was now time for a solo act, Ballantyne picked up the pace at the 16- mile mark, leaving the rest of the field far behind for a comfortable finish ahead of runner-up Edwards (2:41:09) and third place finisher Gutzmore (2:42:06).

Ballantyne's finish time was more than four minutes slower than his course record of 2:21:05 set in 2002 and considerably slower than his 2:15:30 PR set at the Trinidad and Tobago Marathon earlier this year.

"My objective was to win the race," said Ballantyne, who looked relaxed at the finish line. "I did not want to run too hard because I want to win the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States Half Marathon race next weekend," he added. He has won the race nine years in a row. Ballantyne, who does his speed work on a 375-meter grass field normally used for cricket and soccer games, has won the Barbados Marathon twice and the Trinidad and Tobago Marathon seven times.

Arieta Martin (30) of St. Catherine, Jamaica
Arieta Martin (24), who was running her third marathon, led the women's field wire-to-wire and finished well ahead of second- place finisher Kathy Waldron of Green Bay, Wisconsin (3:19:25) and third woman Mimmi Anderson of Sweden (3:32:36.) Martin's 3:14:05 was a personal best despite a nagging groin injury.

Jeremy Borling (24), Assistant Editor for Chicago Athlete magazine, won the Reggae Half Marathon in a course record- setting time of 1:11:30 in only his third attempt at the distance. Jamaican Tamica Thomas (18) won the women's division in 1:29: 45.

To the casual reggae-loving participant, the effects of Hurricane Ivan on the race were barely noticeable. The savage storm that rocked the island last September did, however, wipe out the island's entire banana crop. "Yes, we have no bananas," joked Assistant Race Director Gina Harrison, referencing the catchy classic tune by that title. Not a finish line party fiasco by any means, one smiling race participant summed up the absence of the staple post-race fruit as, "No problem, mon."

The 2005 race will be held December 3, 2005. For more information, visit the race Web site at www.reggaemarathon.com.