There will be a route change and turnaround for this year’s fifth staging of the Montego Bay City Run, set for May 6, in the resort city of Montego Bay.

The event seeks to raise funds for western Jamaica-based tertiary institutions.

The new route will completely bypass downtown Montego Bay and will take the participants along Howard Cooke Highway, it was announced at Tuesday’s media launch at the Holiday Inn hotel in Rose Hall.

According to Emerson Whittley, who is responsible for logistics, the runners and walkers will start as usual at the Old Hospital Park, then travel along the highway, instead of turning at the intersection with Queen Drive and going along St James Street to the Courts store as they did in the four previous stagings.

Whittley explained that this would make for less traffic displacement in the centre of the city.

Participants in the 5K events will turn around at the intersection at the Catherine Hall Entertainment Complex and return to the park, while those in the 10K event will continue to Secrets Hotel in Freeport, where they will turn around and head towards the finish line.

The organisers are expecting to get 5,000 participants this year.

Montego Bay City Run has contributed over $15 million to needy students at various tertiary institutions across western Jamaica, since its inception.