Are you up for a challenge? If so, here’s a great one for you…especially if you love running in the Caribbean! It’s the Five Island Challenge and Reggae Marathon will be a leading event for 2019 and 2020:
“The CES Five Island Endurance Challenge is an international marathon and half marathon series for runners, who want to escape to tropical locations during the harsh winters. You have an opportunity to run in the premier island destinations, spend a few days on the beach, and attend the local festivals and parties. This is a real runcation!!! To earn your Five Island Endurance Challenge medal, you must complete a marathon or half marathon at these races”. To register just go to this link, Five Island Challenge
Note that you’ll still have to register for each race individually. For Reggae Marathon this is the online registration link: Reggae Marathon Registration
Here’s the announcement with more details:
The Reggae Marathon, Half Marathon and 10K has joined four other Caribbean marathons to form the Five Island Challenge, sponsored by the Atlanta Life Insurance Company of USA.
The other marathons are: Marathon Bahamas Race Weekend; Run Barbados Marathon Weekend; Bermuda International Race Weekend and Cayman Islands Marathon & Half Marathon Relay.
The organisers of the Five Island Challenge said the new challenge is to encourage distance runners from across the world to thread their way through the palm trees and beaches of the various islands, while enjoying a fun ‘runcation’.
“We at Reggae Marathon are excited to be a part of this challenge as it is bringing a welcome synergy to regional road racing events and competiveness,” said Alfred ‘Frano’ Francis, Race Director of Reggae Marathon.
The organisers, the CES Corporation, said the December, 2019 and January, 2020 dates of the events will allow runners who live in cold-winter spots to escape to the sun.
To successfully complete the challenge, runners must finish each of the five marathons and/or half-marathons within a six-year period, starting with the December 2019 races, of which Reggae Marathon, Half Marathon and 10k is one. It will take multiple years for runners to complete the circuit as some of the marathon events are held on overlapping dates.
Anyone who has previously completed any of the five races will be given credit for same. Once the series is completed, runners will receive a special finisher’s medal.
Individuals who register for the Challenge at www.fiveislandchallenge.com before July 1, 2019 and register for one of the races before September 30, 2019 are eligible to win a US$100 Visa debit card at each race location in December 2019 and January 2020. The runners must be present to win.
The 2019 Reggae Marathon, Half Marathon & 10K, is set for December 8, 2019 and continues to attract runners and walkers from across Jamaica and over 38 different countries. The internationally certified event is in it’s 19th year and continues to grow. Registration for the event includes bib tag timing, a commemorative runner shirt and gym sack and a specially designed 2019 finisher’s medal.
The Barbados and Cayman marathons are also held on the same weekend as the Reggae Marathon, while the Bermuda marathon is scheduled for January 17-19, 2020 and the Bahamas Marathon will be on January 19, 2020.
