On its tenth anniversary, Reggae Marathon cemented its reputation as an exotic destination marathon, its famous torch bearers and drummers providing a thrilling start that took the runners’ minds off the light rain. The skies eventually cleared and the temperature remained a cool 72°F for most of the race. The route took runners along the Negril coastline and ended at the Long Bay Beach Park, where runners poured unto Negril’s famous seven-mile white sand beach to enjoy post race massages and a swim.

This year’s event boasted its largest field ever, with an even mix of local and international runners.  President of the Jamdammers’ Running Club, Emile Leiba, said “We’re proud of creating and sustaining a world class event that promotes local running and brings visitors from all over the world to Jamaica. We look forward to seeing Reggae Marathon grow stronger.”

The day’s other winners included Jamaicans Kirk Brown (1:10:57) from Clarendon and Twishauna Williams (1:29:08) from St. Catherine the Half Marathon.  Shawn Pitter (31:56) and former American Olympian Carrie Tollefson (35:05) were the men’s and women’s champions in the 10k. Tollefson, who represented the USA in 2004 in the Athens Olympics, donated her prize money to a local high school.

St. Jago, Homewood Technical and Bellefield dominated the hotly contested High School 10k Championships. St. Jago beat Holmwood in the girls’ 10k, but lost to them in the boys’ division. Bellefield took third place in both events.

Bank of Jamaica, Urban Development Corporation and Advanced Integrated Systems topped the Corporate 10K Championships. First time entrant, E. Pihl & Sons fielded the largest corporate team of the day and also took the top spot in the Corporate Half Marathon Championships, beating veterans LIME and JMMB, who took second and third.