Kingston City Marathon impacts five beneficiaries
Proceeds from the seventh staging of the 2019 Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) Kingston City Marathon events were presented to the five beneficiaries at the launch of next year’s events held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel last Wednesday.
The beneficiaries were Alpha Boy’s School, Marie Atkins Night Shelter, Open Arms Development Centre, Food For The Poor, and Missionaries of the Poor as they received proceeds of $640,000 each from the events which raised a total of $3.2 million.
The events, which took place in March, comprised a marathon, half marathon, 10K and 5K race/walk. The marathon was added for the first time this year.
Nicola Madden-Greig, co-founder and co-chairman of the Kingston City Marathon events, said she is already anticipating a much bigger and better staging of the Kingston City Marathon events next year.
“Next year, we will be targeting to raise in the region of $4 million and expecting over 5,000 participants for the races. We are also hoping to get more overseas international runners from other countries to be involved.
“With the Kingston Marathon now positioned on the world stage as a marquee running event for local and international marathoners, our staging promises to deliver an exciting experience for our participants in next year’s staging,” said Madden-Greig.
Oshane Archibald from Jamaica was the overall top male finisher in the marathon in a time of 2 hours, 52 minutes and 44 seconds. Kemar Leslie, also from Jamaica, finished in second place with a time of 2:59:31. Phillip McCatty, who was born in Jamaica and migrated to Canada as a teenager in 2002, crossed the finish line in a time of 2:59:43 to place third.
The top female marathon finisher was USA-based Mari Kelly with a time of 3:35:54, Arieta Martin from Jamaica finished second in a time of 4:36.48, and third, Sonia Gayle from Jamaica in a time of 4:44:10.
During the launch, organisers announced that the eighth staging of the Kingston City Marathon events will take place on March 15, 2020. The events remained the same as marathon, half marathon, 10K, and 5K race/walk.
—Gerald Reid
