A quiet revolution has been taking place on Jamaica’s open roads as a proliferation of 5K running events islandwide signals a major cultural shift. Fitness has been evolving from a gym ritual into a competitive and social experience. And at the heart of this change are individuals who hail from different walks of life but share a love of competitive road racing that brings people together.

This passion is being bolstered by the Burger King (BK) 5K & Relay as it marks a milestone 20th anniversary today, March 8, by widening the prize pool to incentivise more people to be a part of a collective fitness experience. It is a welcome evolution for the likes of Jullite Reeves, Orlando Honeygan, and Garfield Gordon, who have all previously featured among the race’s school and corporate team winners.

For ‘5K Chaser’ Reeves, even the distance she must travel to participate in a run is no barrier to being part of this fitness movement. She travels across parishes just to feel the road under her feet as a way to maintain her “mental freshness”.

“I actually live in Savanna-La-Mar, Westmoreland, so you can understand how passionate I am. Once I’m on the island, then I don’t miss my 5Ks. It keeps me fresh. It keeps me young. It keeps me vibrant,” she explained.

That vigour is also what attracts Honeygan, a lecturer at Church Teachers’ College in Mandeville, who believes in the 5K as an opportunity for competition to meet community and leadership. He was a solo runner who turned into a team lead, rallying 30 staff members and students to join the excitement of the runs.

“I have formed a committee so that we can have not only the athletes but also staff members to be a part of it. Fitness is what we endorse. It actually gives people the opportunity to be themselves,” he said.

Further, Honeyghan believes that his individual performance on a run is secondary to the collective energy of his team. “The numbers, the vibe that the team gives and all of that, I believe it is pretty much exciting to be a part of that.”

While many are now joining the “vibe” for the first time, others like Gordon are renowned across a number of 5K events, including the Burger King 5K & Relay. Now a coach and massage therapist, Gordon has been a fixture on the track since his school days, moving from winning as a student to winning as an adult in the individual categories.

“I’ve been doing Burger King 5K since I was in high school. I always wanted to come out and win because I won when I was in high school and I also won while I was in college,” he recalls. Even with his elite preparation consisting of running over various distances in intervals, Gordon welcomes the shift toward a more inclusive finishing line that will see other non-school teams, non-athletes and individuals. “I think it’s better to widen it, because normally every year it’s just high school. It will bring out a lot more people.”

This year, the finishing line ritual is set to include more than just the commemorative medals and the signature post-race BK meal. By expanding the prize categories to specifically reward not only corporate and school teams, but also running clubs and gyms, the event is putting its money where its mouth is regarding inclusivity.

As the BK 5K & Relay celebrates two decades on the road, the focus has shifted from crowning a single winner to celebrating the “supporting communities” like Honeyghan’s and the lifelong competitors like Gordon. With $2 million in cash and prizes now on the table for everyone, the event has become a microcosm of Jamaica’s wider fitness movement. Whether sprinting for a top-tier prize or walking for “mental freshness”, the road is open, the rewards are plenty, and the community is ready to run.

Garfield Gordon, who routinely chases personal best times at a number of 5K events islandwide, accepts the first-place individual prize at the 2024 Burger King 5K & Relay event from Burger King Head of Sales and Marketing Nadia Kiffin-Green.