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International field for March 17 Kingston City Marathon

Published:Wednesday | January 16, 2019 | 12:00 AMRobert Bailey/Gleaner Writer
Lionel Rookwood
From left: Nicola Madden-Greig, co-chairperson; Donovan Samuels, Councillor, Tivoli Gardens; Kingston City Marathon race director Allan Beckford; Chris Jarrett, co-chairman, Kingston City Marathon and Donovan White, Director of Tourism at yesterday's launch of the March 17 race. The launch was held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

This year's Kingston City Marathon will be a real international affair. Competitors from the Caribbean, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Japan, Canada, China , and the United States have already signed up to compete in the March 17 event.

Nicola Madden-Greig, co-chair of Kingston City Marathon, says they are expecting a wonderful championships this year, where the events also include a half marathon, 10K and 5K.

"We are very excited this year because we are putting a lot of new elements in races and ensuring that everyone has a quality experience on the road," Madden-Greig said at yesterday's press launch at The Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, Madden-Greig said that they are anticipating an exciting championships.

"We are looking at more entertainment, more fun, and at the same the time, the courses have been IAAF/AIMS (Association of International Marathons) certified and measured, and so they will be accurate courses. These are courses can be used to enter other IAAF international competitions," she said.

She added that proceeds from the event would go towards the Open Arms Drop-in Centre, the Marie Atkins Night Shelter, Food for the Poor, and the Alpha Boys ' School.

 

Focus on homeless

 

"We focus on the homeless because they are the more vulnerable in our communities and sometimes get overlooked," Madden-Greig said.

Director of Tourism Donovan White, said his office was very happy to be associated with the event.

"We believe that this forms part of the niche marketing that we must begin to permeate in the global space," said White.

"We want to make sure that we position ourselves to take advantage of some of that market that is looking for very specific things like running, entertainment, food, and other forms of niche marketing that can create incremental growth in tourist arrivals for Jamaica," White said.

As part of the event, there will be a welcome party on Friday, March 15, and an expo the following day under the theme "Wellness Rocks".