Havana, November 16 (Jit) - For several editions, different chimes have given the start to the runners of the Havana Marathon (Marabana), to the beat of the ticking of the radio station, Radio Reloj.

In view of the 37th Havana Marathon 2023, scheduled for November 19, the organizers have included novel calls for the start, all of them related to the independence deeds. 

At 5:30 a.m., the walkers will listen to the agramontine reveille; at 5:58 a.m., the bugle call of the general call, like our insurrectionists in the manigua. 

This will be followed by Radio Reloj at 6:00 a.m., with the start in the minute dedicated to Marabana and to the centenary of the Hero of the Republic of Cuba José Ramón Fernández Álvarez, honorary president for life of the Cuban Olympic Committee. 

Bib numbers will be collected by runners of the marathon, half marathon and 10 km at the Tryp Habana Libre Hotel from today until November 17, from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm.

Those registered for the 10 km have been summoned at the last minute to the iconic hotel facility, due to the complex weather conditions expected for the weekend. 

The organizers have announced that nearly half a thousand foreign runners (462), out of a total of 2,608 registered, will take to the streets of Havana.

On Friday, also at the Hotel Tryp Habana Libre, in its Solidarity Room at 5:00 p.m., the 2024 edition will be presented, which will be run through the streets of the main Cuban city on a date to be announced, since November 19 will fall on a Tuesday. 

Marabana celebrates the Day of Physical Culture and Sports in Cuba, which has been celebrated every November 19 since the 1980s. The event pays tribute to the ideas of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, who early on stated that "without the Revolution we could not have even dreamed of developing a great sports movement in our homeland".

This was heard at the Havana Sports City Coliseum before the delegates to the historic first national plenary meeting of the voluntary sports councils.