Jamaica Bound

Jamaica Bound!  Bags packed for wheels up to Negril on Wednesday.  Flying direct this year from Toronto to Negril via Air Canada.  By this time tomorrow I'll be comfortably ensconced in my first class seat sipping Champagne...oops, that was my inner voice fantasy.  I'm in Economy but with my prefered Aisle seat...easy access to the onboard washroom.

Another big advantage of flying direct, assuming all goes well,is that I'll be through the airport in Montego Bay ahead of rush hour traffic. That should ease the drive along the shore road to Negril.  And again, assuming all goes well, I should be able to get in a late afternoon swim at Rondel Village, my hotel in Negril.  Dan...you listening?

Rondel Village has been the base of operations for Reggae Marathon for the past 7 years.  It's a great, intimate, very well run hotel along the Negril Beach.  It's about a mile to the Reggae Marathon Start/Finish line and a little less to the Pasta Party.  We do a lot of walking and given that it's way warmer than Toronto, that's a good thing!

Dan and I take breakfast and dinner most nights at the restaurant by the beach at Rondel Village.  There's a Menu of course but for Breakfast it's the Jamaican Breakfast:  Ackee and Saltfish;  For supper, Escovitch Fish...a whole Snapper!  Blue Mountain coffee in the morning;  Red Stripe with Supper.  I'm salivating!  The service is great and the conversation between tables is usually all about running...Rondel Village is a popular hotel with Reggae Marathoners.  If you're planning on running Reggae Marathon 2018, book early!

Beach, beach, beach...there, that decision made!  Rondel Village has a relatively compact beach frontage.  There are two areas, behind the fence and directly on the beach.  Dan and I stake out our beach-side lounges first thing after breakfast Thursday morning.  With towels supplied by the hotel, there's only one other decision to make:  SPF 45?  Yes, heavyweight sun protection is mandatory in Negril in December.  It's hot of course...which I love...and with the sun more directly overhead that in Canada, only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the sun without sunscreen (with apologies to the Joe Cocker album I lifted that line from).

Oh, and there's a race this Saturday!  Yeah, 5:15 am Saturday a few thousand runners are sent away for a full Marathon, Half Marathon or 10K.  I've got Finisher Medals from all three but for the past few years I've run the 10K.  I get a nice run in and am finished and enjoying a cold Red Stripe and a refreshing post-race swim by 6:30 am.  That's about as good as it gets.

One more sleep to wheels up...

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy