Lisa Laws is a whirlwind! There, I said it! Rarely standing still and always with a smile, Lisa is always running. And swimming and biking…she is multiple-time IronMan Finisher! We see her at Reggae Marathon every December running the Reggae Runnerz group. But who is she really? Let’s hear from the whirlwind herself:
“I’m from The Big Apple, New York City. I’ve got family in Virginia, Florida and Jamaica. I’ve always been athletic but I began running seriously in 2012…something to do, a stress reliever.
I heard about Reggae Marathon on one of my frequent trips to Jamaica. I’m always in Jamaica visiting family and friends, and my friend Gail Jackson, owner of the Negril Tree House Beach Resort told me about the race. Why did I chose Reggae Marathon? Come on…it’s a marathon in the land that I love! Oh, and why not. I mean who wouldn’t want to run in Paradise. It’s flat, it’s fast and offers a 10k, Half Marathon and Full Marathon.
After my first year at Reggae Marathon, my friends and I decided to come back and run it again, but what started with 12 people grew to 200 people. In 2014, we began calling ourselves Reggae Runnerz and in 2015, 2016 and 2017 we have come with 550 people. We expect the same numbers this year at Reggae Marathon 2018!
Our Reggae Runnerz don’t just come to run – we run, have fun and we give back. We’ve adopted Green Island School located in Hanover, providing financial support to assist in covering the cost of student’s exit exam fees so they have the opportunity to graduate, as well helping finance the track and field team’s attendance at Penn Relays in Philadelphia every year. Over the past couple of years we have contributed over $30,000 and we plan on continuing to support these students and the school for years to come. These kids have a special place in our hearts and as we have watched them grow from 9th grade to graduation we plan to continue to support and sponsor them as they enter College, be in locally in Jamaica or abroad – here in the states”
Lisa is humble. She’ll be testy when we meet up again when she hears that I’ve shared this: 4 time Ironman, numerous marathons and half marathons. Master Swim Coach, Triathlon Coach, Entrepreneur, Travel Concierge. That’s Lisa Laws, whirlwind!
Until next time…
Reggae Marathon RunninGuy (aka Sugar ‘Tuff Gong’ Bong)
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