On March 17, 2019 a second marathon was introduced to Jamaica’s schedule of running events, the Kingston City Marathon. This race was staged along with the 5K, 10K and half marathon put on annually by the Kingston City Run Organizing Committee and was marketed as an opportunity to “Run Di City.”

When I learned of the marathon, I quickly signed on (well… after some encouragement from my family). I was excited, worried and scared all at the same time. I was excited to be a part of the first staging, worried that I would not be race ready and scared about the course which was not posted at the time I registered.  I tell you, I am so happy that I didn't give in to my fears and discomfort, as this ended up being a personally motivating experience. However, that is not the purpose of this post. I am writing this post to give you a run down of the race – from registration to finish. The good, the bad, and the “not as pretty as me”.

Before I get into the details, know that this marathon is not like the regular marathons you may have completed. It is tough. It is challenging. It is the toughest I have completed so far. I am not even sure it should be called a marathon. An “endurance marathon” better describes it. I recall sharing my concern about the course with my brother before the race and his response was “just remember what goes up must come down.” So, throughout the race I kept repeating just that to myself;

“What goes up must come down!”

The “what goes up” part seemed to carry on forever. The Kingston City Run website describes the course as “flat” but I can testify that it is far from that.  The race is a steady climb up-hill until you get to the half marathon turn-around point in Hope Gardens. “Fortunately”, since this is a looped course you get to do the climb twice. Oh, how wonderful 😒. The race was approximately 20K of hill climbing. 🧗🏿‍♂️. See for yourself.

Now on to the nitty-gritty. 🧐.

Registration (Pre-race)

You’d have better luck finding a needle in a hay stack that finding information about the Kingston City Marathon 🕵🏿‍♂️. The website lacked key race information. The expression, “building the plane while it is on the runway” sounds about right when describing the updates to the site nearing race day. The race registration was managed through active.com and there was confusion there as well. To get the information I was looking for, I called Kingston City Run. They did not have time to field my questions so I followed up by emailing them. One of the things I requested was a course map. I am still awaiting a response. 👴🏿.

As you can already tell, this did not discourage me from registering.  It was, whatever at this point. Should I have expected more? Well, yes!

I registered for the race and, unlike the other eight marathons I have signed up for before this, I did not receive a “thank you for registering here is what you need to know “email from the organizing group. Sad. 😢.

No email nearing race day with course, bib/packet pick-up, bag check info etc. Disappointing. 😭.

The fitness expo lacked fitness and featured a lot of expo - craft expo to be specific. I figured that somehow this went hand-in-hand with the involvement of the Jamaica Tourist Board, so I discounted it for want it was worth. I also opted out of the Pasta Party that night. I had already experienced enough disappointment in one day. 

Recommendation: There is no need to recreate the wheel here. There are so many established marathons, with websites and communication plans from which the Kingston City Run can glean some best practices and remedy these shortcomings – at no cost.

1.      Registrants need to be thanked, welcomed and informed.

2.      The website should be updated.

3.      Communication ought to be responded to.

Race (Start to Finish)

The full and half marathons started at 4:30am. This was likely strategically planned to reopen the roadways as early as possible, but I was most appreciative that we got to it ahead of sunrise. The sun shines differently on Jamaica – and not the different you want to experience during a 26.2-mile run.

The race began and ended outside Emancipation Park and the course took us through Devon House, King’s House, past the Bob Marley Museum and through Hope Gardens. It is a looped course. So, marathon runners literally did the half marathon course twice. This is not what I would consider a running tour of the city. However, I fully understand and appreciate that there may not be much to be done about it outside of switching the marketing from suggesting it is a running tour of the city.

Runners were greeted with some reggae music at Devon House, which was nice, and during my second loop into Hope Gardens, reggae music was in full swing.

Along the way there were plenty volunteers serving as race marshals, distributing water, directing runners and directing traffic away from the course. The race started before sunrise, so security and police officers were scattered along the course on foot and on bike. I recall seeing a medic station at the half marathon turn-around as well as mobile medical personnel and mobile road marshals surveying the course for potential emergencies.

There were several racing events occurring at the same time that utilized the same finishing stretch and finish line. As the races merged into each other, walkers and slow runners intertwined and got in the way of people running for time.  This was annoying.

Recommendations:

1.      Rebrand from “run di city” to perhaps “conquer de city”

2.      Pre-race communication to include headlamps for poorly lighted areas such as King’s House and Hope Gardens.

3.      I did not see any portable toilets. Some should have been strategically placed for along the full/half course.

4.      I did not see directional signs. These would have been useful when marshals were busy attending to motorists

5.      Organize barricades to prevent 5k/10k participants from walking in the way of marathon runners toward the finish.

6.      Add some entertainment outside the Bob Marley Museum.

Miscellaneous

Leading up to the race, every now and then, a Facebook or Instagram promo made its way into my timeline. They were usually some video which featured a “race ambassador.” I must admit that I don’t understand the strategy behind ambassador selection. Moreover, I don’t even recall seeing any of them at the race 🤔.

On another note, I liked the whole idea of making the weekend a celebration. I did not attend any of the events to provide a review but if they were anything like the Fitness Expo I know they need work.

There are so many others things I can highlight about the race. Some of these include; the drumming and the fire breathing dragon-man during the opening ceremony ; and the great sectional prizes which included airfare… and you know how I feel about traveling.

 Recommendations:

1.      Expand marketing and branding around the idea of “Kingston City Run and Fitness Weekend”

2.      Partner with an Event Company to organize and market events.

3.      Move 5K Run/Walk to Saturday.

4.      Add an after party/music festival to schedule.

5.      Where were Red Stripe and Appleton in this? If we are marketing to attract tourists, they need to be involved. A red stripe after the marathon would have been satisfying.

6.      The commemorative race shirt should have been Dri-FIT.

7.      Review ambassador selection – local fame and number of Instagram followers are not the only criteria to consider.

8.      Promos should feature some more of Jamaica and the run itself.

While I do think that there is work to be done to improve the race and the overall experience for the runners I would certainly do this race again. Not only did I like the challenge it offered, but the things I identified as opportunities are not deal breakers (for me at least). Know also, I have never competed in a marathon that I thought got it 100% correct.  They all have short-comings and those short-comings are magnified or minimized based on personal preferences.

Here is a side-by-side summary for you to take away.

My hope is that this event improves and continues to grow each year. If you have any additional questions about the race  that I did not address,  feel free to drop them in comments below or reach out to me via email or Instagram.

Disclaimer: This is was my ninth (9th) marathon (Chicago x2, Miami x3, Fort Lauderdale x2 and Budapest x1) and while this may not make me an authority on the subject, my experience in operations management and business consulting has trained my nose well.