The Havana Marathon, another victim of the virus that plagues Cuba

Havana/Many runners will not participate in the 39th edition of the Havana Marathon (Marabana) due to the consequences of dengue and chikungunya, a virus that according to official figures has affected 30% of the Cuban population. Cancellations, distance changes and disorganization marked the first day of bib collection at the Habana Libre hotel for registered athletes.

“I’m here because I want to see if I can change the distance. I had planned to run the marathon, the 42 kilometers, but this year I won’t be able to.” Laura has been running for 10 years, and has not missed an edition of the most popular race in Cuba for nine. The first time, he remembers, he ran the five kilometer competition, and then he increased, first to ten kilometers and then to the half marathon (21 kilometers), until five years ago he managed to do the full marathon. “This time it will be impossible for me. A month ago I caught the virus. I spent two weeks without setting foot on the ground, and only now have I been able to stretch my legs a little. The pain is still there, in the wrists, the ankles, the sole of the foot. I recently ran five kilometers, to try, and I spent the next three days without being able to walk. And just the next day, at the Round Table, Dr. Durán said that the pain can last from three months to a year.” Laura prefers not to risk it and get some rest. To do this, he wants to reduce the distance by half. “If they don’t change my participation to 21 kilometers, I won’t run this year.”

Reyner, on the other hand, says that the virus hit him very hard, and that he constantly has relapses. “I’m still convalescing, but this would be my first race, and I don’t want to miss it. I was going to run ten kilometers, and I want to lower it to five, but things are difficult. This distance is only for foreigners. You tell me. The most popular, the one where surely the most people would come and cheer this on. Cubans can only run ten kilometers and up. Not everyone can run a ten, that requires preparation. That’s why the Marabana is becoming less and less popular.”

According to data provided to the official press by Carlos Gatorno, director of the Marabana Maracuba National Running and Walking Commission, this year around 2,800 runners will participate, more than the approximately 2,400 last year, but only 200 will be foreigners, less than the 300 in the 2024 edition. These can choose any distance, and the possibility of running only the five kilometers. To do this, they must pay $150 for registration.

Daniel is Mexican and has a work contract in Cuba for two years. He says that this money seems excessive to him, and that he will wait until the day of the race, because as he has been told, leftover numbers almost always appear at the last minute. “This year it should be much easier to get or buy a bib from outside. I have a friend who got it that way. An acquaintance gave him his card so he could come get his bib, because he is in bed due to the virus.”

However, on Thursday morning, the first day for collecting numbers and the runner’s bag, which includes a sweater, a packet of detergent and some wet towels, many complained that the organizers were not letting confirmed and sick people go with the card to collect their numbers. The collection had to be personal. “These people are square. With the number of convalescent people there are, how are you going to be so strict? Someone has to come limping to get in this queue to register,” says Luis, who had to come personally on crutches to get his number, despite not being able to participate due to being sick, to give it to his brother. “My brother came the day before to ask and they told him no, that if he was sick he wouldn’t run, and that they couldn’t just be giving out sweaters, because those were useful for them to give prizes in other competitions. My brother stayed in shockbecause nothing they told him made sense. “They are very intolerant of giving their sweater and bib number to another person.”

The hours passed and the line did not move. Upstairs, in the registration area, members of the Armed Forces, Ministry of the Interior and other official institutions had priority when receiving their numbers and the sweaters were carried in briefcases for their members, despite the fact that it had been reported that the time for these institutions was Wednesday, the day before.

This Sunday, November 16, when the Marabana starts on Independencia Avenue, hundreds of registered Cubans will not participate in the race, due to the consequences of the virus that has been plaguing the island for months, and to which there is still no response to deal with it.