Sports Tourism in the Bahamas

Trevor Strachan, a former long distance competitor, who now coordinates the student marathon category of Marathon Bahamas, said 21 student teams entered for competition last year. This year, 25 schools will compete. This includes two Family Island schools and four American schools.

Mr. Strachan said the visiting runners are excited about making a trip to The Bahamas, and they are likely to bring several other people along.

“With the schools that are coming in, they obviously are going to see some parents and some supporters, ” he said. “So with that, they will get to see a little bit of The Bahamas. Just the exposure itself is going to be good for us. To see the race mode, the camaraderie, it is definitely going to help sports tourism. Remember that these people don’t live inside of a shell. They too, as students, will be productive persons later on, and they too will return.”

Mr. Strachan said he got involved with Marathon Bahamas in order to help identify talented distance runners early. He also hopes, with the help of Marathon Bahamas and the sponsorship of Scotiabank, to assist young Bahamians in obtaining scholarships to university as distance runners.

“I know that sports is a way to affect and to change a generation. I am a product of that, ” he said. “I am the recipient of a collegiate athletic scholarship. I would not have gone to college if I did not receive that scholarship. So I can tell you, you save a generation by educating people, by giving them the exposure.”

The student marathon is a way that young athletes can be positively impacted by opportunities that are provided, Mr. Strachan said. He said even more student teams are expected next year, including more teams from the United States.

High School students will be a part of raising thousands of dollars for health and wellbeing organizations through the student marathon category of Marathon Bahamas.

Shelly Wilson, vice president of Sunshine Insurance, recently charged students athletes to use the thought of helping others to help them complete the race. The students from various schools will run in four-member teams to complete the 26.2 mile course.

“There are five main beneficiaries of the Sunshine Insurance Race Weekend. They are all health and cancer-related beneficiaries. I am sure you are all old enough to understand the impact that cancer has on our country, ” Ms. Wilson told students who will run in the student marathon. “So as you are out there running, and your muscles are hurting, and your feet are hurting, and you hit the wall, just remember that you are running for a cause.”