To date, registrations for the virtual staging of the 2020 Reggae Marathon, Half Marathon and 10K have been received from 14 countries — Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Jamaica, Spain, Switzerland, Trinidad, United Kingdom, and United States of America (USA).

Registration closes today for local runners and closed on Sunday for the international running community.

Participants will be able to run or walk anywhere in the world, on any date and time between now and December 5, 2020 when the event will be officially closed.

However, 140 members of the Reggae Runnerz from the USA, the largest participating group over the years, have booked their stay at Negril hotels for a minimum of five nights so they can run the race on the Reggae Marathon course which was established 20 years ago. As the group has done in the past, members will be supporting local charities such as the Green Island School, the Clifton Boys Home and breast cancer survivors this year.

In preparation for that group, and for any other international or local runners/walkers, the Reggae Marathon organising team has already refreshed the route in Negril to accommodate them.

Under the new virtual arrangement, each runner or walker will receive a Digital Runner’s Bib and Finisher Certificate and post-race— a medal, signature Reggae Marathon T-shirt and a branded tote bag.

“Additionally, on December 5, a number of local clubs plan to run and walk virtually, wearing branded Reggae Marathon shirts, and/or medals from previous Reggae Marathon events, in honour of race director Alfred ‘Frano’ Francis, who is recovering from a recent illness. Francis was looking forward to participating in the first virtual Reggae Marathon, so this gesture from the local running community is certainly heart-warming,” said Diane Ellis, sponsorship director, Reggae Marathon, Half Marathon & 10K.

“COVID-19 has altered the ‘runscape’ worldwide and Jamaica is no exception. With the rise in positive cases locally and globally, we took the decision to cancel the physical participation this year, in the interest of the international and local participants, with the objective of staying safe. However, we look forward to returning to the normal participation in 2021,” said Francis in an earlier statement.

Since its inception in 2001, Reggae Marathon has seen 24,890 participants, of which 13,169 or 53 per cent were visitors from more than 40 countries worldwide.