Reggae Marathon voted among world's best

Ahead of the mid-March launch of the international promotional campaign for this year's Reggae Marathon, Half Marathon and 10K, the Half Marathon race event has been selected among the Best Half Marathons around the world in 2016.

The award was the result of a survey among members of the 100 Half Marathons Club based in the USA. This is a racing club of members who have completed 100 lifetime Half Marathons and some members completing up to 300.

"This great news has come as we get ready to kick off a vigorous promotion of this year's sporting event at the Dallas Rock & Roll Marathon on March 17 and 18, with the support of the Jamaica Tourist Board and Reggae Runnerz ," said Alfred 'Frano' Francis, Race Director of Reggae Marathon, Half Marathon and 10K.

Reggae Runnerz comprises runners from various running groups across the USA who come together to "run ... where the sun meets the sea".

Francis said during the upcoming promotion in the USA, a representative of the Reggae Marathon team will be at the Dallas Rock n Roll Marathon Expo, together with the Dallas-based representative of the Jamaica Tourist Board and members of the Dallas-based Reggae Runnerz, who have attended the Jamaican annual race event in previous years.

INCREASE INREGISTRATION

Since registration opened on January 1 for the 2017 Reggae Marathon, Half Marathon & 10K, the event has recorded an increase in registration over the 2016 numbers for February.

Last year, more than 2,300 persons from 37 countries registered for the event. Among the countries which sent delegations for the first time were China, Malaysia, Turkey, and Guadeloupe. There were also athletes from South Africa, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg and the Russian Federation, among others.

In 2016, the Reggae Runnerz group of the USA brought a contingent of 342, while first-timers included Team Diabetes from Canada. Other notable teams came from China, USA, Japan, and France.

In declaring that there was an increase last year in teams from the Jamaican community and corporate Jamaica, Francis said, overall, Jamaica had the largest group of participants, followed by the USA and Canada.