The Belize Defense Force is looking for a few good men and women to run in its annual marathon festival on Saturday morning. The marathon is open to the public or to anyone who can run the 26 miles from the roundabout in Hattieville, through the Boom road, and ending at the Marion Jones Stadium in Belize City. Major Oscar Mira is the BDF's Sports Coordinator. He says that with $25,000 in prizes, there is enough room for everyone to participate.
Major Oscar Mira, Sports Coordinator
"The first race will start at five am which is the full marathon. At 5:30 we have the half marathon and that is starting at the Boom junction. We also have the ten kilometer that will start at 6 am and the five kilometer starting at 6:30 am.
It is open to anyone. What we are trying to do is promote healthy living and people to go out there not for the competition but to go out there and do an exercise and go for the run. Many people go just for the run. But for the people that want to take it as a sport or want to compete, for the first prize for the full marathon is $1,000. We have prizes going all the way up to in excess of $25,000 this year for all the four races."
Keith Swift,
So do I just show up on Saturday morning?
Major Oscar Mira,
"You can register online athttp://www.bdf.bz or you can go to the BDF Camp and you can ask for the form so that we know which races you will be running. It is open to anyone and in fact this year we have two runners coming from Kenya and they are now in Mexico and they told me that they will be here on Friday to start the run on Saturday. So we want to have this not only for us but have some competition. And for those of us who just want to run for the health sake then it is okay."
Again Saturday's marathon starts at 5 in the morning. There is no application fee. You can register by visiting http://www.bdf.bz.
