The Grace Kennedy Education Run was held early this morning in downtown Kingston. All proceeds of the race go towards funding inner-city youth and their educational goals. It was the sixth annual race and it seems to be attracting more and more participants.

There was a slight cloud cover which kept the heat away for awhile and the course was flat and lead us by the downtown waterfront and through the streets of downtown. Residents came out to watch us pass through and a high school marching band encouraged us with their music and cheerleaders. As a fellow participant was saying, there should be more runs and activities in the downtown area.

Many people are afraid of venturing downtown, as my friend put it, and more races would help to sensitize people to the fact that it is a safe and beautiful place to visit. (True, crime happens there, but this is just like anywhere else in Kingston.) We also got to mingle with the dozens of downtown residents who swim early every Sunday morning in the harbour. Whole families, including their dogs leashed on metal chains, come out to swim together.

As for my performance, I wasn’t feeling 100% and have not raced in awhile but still managed to come 30th out of 1,011 females and 10th in my age group.

Thank you Grace Kennedy and Running Events Jamaica for another great race.