Bafasports steps in to rescue, re-vamp T&T Marathon

Senior Reporter

Among its plans to rescue and revamp the Trinidad and Tobago International Marathon, Bafasports (by athletes, for athletes) plans to interweave various aspects of T&T’s cultural heritage as well as to reposition the race to appeal to a broader participation base.

At a media conference on Wednesday at their head office at Borde Street, Port-of-Spain, Bafasports chief executive officer (CEO) Nigel Bellamy announced that the popular full-service running club will take over the organisation of the race, aiming to stage it in May rather than its traditional date on the last Sunday in January.

Instead, there could be a half-marathon in January, building up to the reimagined main event four months later.

This news comes after the November 7 media release from the T&T Marathon Committee (TTMC), headed by T&T Olympic Committee president Diane Henderson, which emphatically stated, “TTIM 2025 has been officially cancelled.”

The release explained that after 42 years of “unbroken hosting of this premier distance event,” the TTMC, which came into reality when one of the race’s significant sponsors pulled out in 2009, had come to a decision that “with times changing and resources becoming ever more difficult to obtain, it has become necessary to retire its organisation.”

But on Wednesday, Bellamy declared defiantly, “I knew that was untenable; there was no way we could let the marathon go. That was not going to happen on my watch.”

Bellamy said that his newly-formed committee, which also includes several past members, will continue to call on Henderson’s guidance and that of another long-serving organiser, Francis Williams-Smith, but will immediately seek to bring fresh ideas to fruition in an attempt to breathe life back into the signature event.

He explained that consideration is being given to rebranding and renaming the event, while Bafasports also aims to add elements that will enhance the identity of the T&T Marathon.

“When I got involved initially, it was through Tony Harford, and he had a vision for the event, which he shared with me. I was sold on it, and this is where I would lean the committee a little bit if I could, which would be to involve our culture very heavily.”

Bellamy added, “While it is sport and it is an athletic event certainly, I do believe there is room for culture; there is room for staging some theatre in there, and I think Trinidad and Tobago is well positioned to do that. We have a unique culture here and a lot of elements that can’t be found elsewhere, and I think if we bake a lot of those elements into the marathon and make it more of a celebration and not just about the athletics, we will attract a lot more attention and a lot more participation.”

Attracting those spectators and participants who fall outside of the realm of elite interests, Bellamy says, is critical to widening the marathon’s general appeal.

“If you look across the world, the New York Road Runners just put on the New York Marathon. Fifty-five thousand people—a fraction of those are athletes; a fraction of those are running two-hour times; the majority are running four, five, or six hours. So, they are appealing to the average person, and I think that’s where we need to go. We need to get the average person thinking, I can tackle a marathon.”

Toward this objective, the new marathon committee is touting several supplementary events, such as a half-marathon in January, as well as positioning the full marathon as the marquee event within the hugely successful National Million Mile Challenge.

This challenge encourages fitness enthusiasts to log their miles completed through various activities such as walking, road running, or even hiking toward the attainment of a collective one-million-mile goal, which will be central to the marathon’s marketing strategy.

“We know if you want to get somebody to tackle 26.2 miles, the first thing you need to do is get them out of the house in the morning to do a little one mile or two miles. Before long, they themselves will want more; they will get hungry and be competitive. That’s the first step; Million Mile does that. And putting the marathon as a marquee event there now gives people another target to do.”

In recent years, the TTMC has frequently tinkered with the marathon course, searching for ways to improve on its original route from the traditional St Mary’s Junction, Freeport start-point, heading north along the Southern Main Road to Curepe Junction and then west along the Eastern Main Road into Port-of-Spain and ending at the Queen’s Park Savannah.

The 2024 edition started at the Savannah, proceeded east to Tacarigua, and back, ending again at the Queen’s Park Savannah.

Bellamy added that while the 2025 route has not yet been set, the committee is considering at least three options and also intends to have whichever one is selected, internationally certified.

“That’s already in motion, and it’s critical. We will absolutely get that done; that’s a non-negotiable item for us.”

This was met with immediate approval by one of T&T’s premier marathoners, Colin Pereira, who is also a member of the committee.

He said, “I am happy that the race would be certified. It’s difficult financially to go to another country to try and get, let’s say, Olympic qualifying time or a Boston or New York qualifying time. So, it is very important that the course is certified, and that in itself will attract international athletes like the Kenyans because they know that the times that they produced will be ratified by World Athletics.”

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