This year’s Reggae Marathon, Half Marathon and 10k will be held on Saturday, December 2 in Negril, Westmoreland.
It was launched at the Alhambra Inn Hotel in St Andrew on Tuesday with Minister of Health Dr Christopher Tufton and Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sports, Olivia Grange, endorsing the annual event.
The event won a number of international awards last year, and this time around, in its 15thstaging, it is shaping up to be one of the biggest and has been included in the Ministry of Health’s Jamaica Moves Corporate Challenge.
Race director, Alfred Francis said, “we are very pleased to advise that to date, runners and walkers from over 32 countries have registered to participate on December 2 and we are looking forward to an even more outstanding staging.
“This choice by the Ministry (of Health) validates all our previous efforts to have corporate Jamaica use the event as a platform to build a healthy workforce, while increasing productivity through camaraderie and team building at the workplace, thereby reducing the pressure on the island’s health system,” Francis said.
Launch Reggae Marathon 2017
According to Tufton, the Reggae Marathon is part of a lifestyle choice individuals have to make for healthier living. He said that non-communicable diseases are impacting the island’s health sector in a major way, which he attributes to the eating and exercise regiments of individuals.
Grange used the opportunity to encourage bed and breakfast offerings in Negril during the Reggae Marathon, as she said hotels have been fully booked for the event.
She said that sports tourism is growing in Jamaica and her ministry is playing a major role in capitalising on the trend.
