Reggae Marathon 15 in 2015!
Every once in a while a significant date creeps up and gob smacks you in the face. That date for Reggae Marathon is Saturday, December 5, 2015. It’s the first Saturday of December and the usual date of Reggae Marathon in Negril. And next year, it’s the 15th anniversary of the first running of Reggae Marathon! Where did the time go?
The Jamdammers, the Running Club who work diligently throughout the year to ensure the entire Reggae Marathon race event runs smoothly, had been running regularly at the Mona Reservoir in Kingston for a few years. Jamaica was well known by then as a Sprint Running nation. The Jamdammers talked about how to promote long distance running not only within Jamaica but abroad. After returning from running a Marathon event off-island, the idea of hosting and running a Marathon event in Jamaica was born. Reggae Marathon!
Recently, Reggae Marathon Race Director Frano noted two things about Reggae Marathon. First, The Jamdammers are based in Kingston and Reggae Marathon is run in Negril. Putting on Reggae Marathon in a distant location is a logistical challenge every year…one that goes flawlessly for runners every year. Second, and with a tip to the Sprinters, Usain Bolt, then a High School Student, ran a 10K leg of a Marathon Relay that was held that inaugural year. That’s one of the reasons I love watching the High School students in the 10K: Will I have have shared the Course that day with a future Jamaican Running star? In 2015, 15 years later runners from over 35 Countries from around the world will line up at the Start Line at 5:15 am in the morning to challenge themselves at Reggae Marathon.
But Reggae Marathon is more than a race. Being on vacation in Negril in December and running in a race is a big part of the Reggae Marathon experience of course. A bigger part is catching up with friends from around the world once a year. In my case, I first met my Reggae Marathon running friends on Facebook before meeting in person at Reggae Marathon. Now we’ve made Reggae Marathon the annual event where we meet up live. There are four of us in that core group and we have 18 Reggae Marathon’s between us; with the expanded group, we have over 35 Reggae Marathon experiences!
So mark December 5, 2015 in your Calendars now for the 15th Anniversary Celebration of Reggae Marathon in Negril.
Until next time…
Reggae Marathon RunninGuy (aka Sugar ‘Tuff Gong’ Bong)
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