Support for Jill Stewart MoBay City Run leaves family in awe

MONTEGO BAY, St James — At least two members of Jill Stewart’s family from The Bahamas were left in awe of the outpouring of love and support for their late daughter and sister at MoBay City Run in Jamaica’s second city on Sunday morning.

Her father and brother, Raymond Simpson and Raymond Simpson Jr, were in the island for the event’s second iteration since it was renamed in honour of Jill, who is also the late wife of Jamaica Observer Executive Chairman Adam Stewart.

“Just to see her name everywhere — on the shirts and on the start [line] and on the finish [line] — I’m sure some people have no idea who she is but there are so many people here that do, and it’s just beautiful,” Simpson Jr told the Observer on Sunday.

“First time we’ve come to the race [but] we’ve been hearing about it,” he added. “Jill loved running it [MoBay City Run], but it’s the first time we’ve ever come and participated.”

Last year, the events’ organisers decided to have Jill immortalised through the run by naming it after her, due to her support over the years.

“When Adam [Stewart] first told us about that [the renaming], we were kinda blown away. You have tears in our eyes right away; I think it’s beautiful,” said Simpson Jr.

On Sunday, a sea of participants — including Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness, Deputy Prime Minister Dr Horace Chang and Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs Marlene Malahoo-Forte — took over Howard Cooke Boulevard and Harmony Beach Park for the ninth staging of the event, the second since it was renamed the Jill Stewart MoBay City Run. And, the scene was not lost on Simpson Jr.

“It’s incredible! A lot of positive energy; it’s a beautiful thing,” he said.

The father and son, along with Stewart, were also presented with a piece of artwork depicting Jill doing one of the things she loved to do — running. It was done by artist Javaun Thomas.

This, too, brought joy to Jill’s loved ones.

“We are very grateful. It’s a beautiful picture and I’m sure it’s going to be up at the house,” said Simpson Jr. “We’re from The Bahamas, but I’m sure that every time we come to Jamaica it’ll be in the house somewhere, and I’m sure we’ll sit back and have a look.

Stewart, who is also executive chairman of Sandals Resorts International, was also quite happy with the painting.

“Sometimes you’re touched by people that are extraordinary, that go beyond the call of duty and do things in the background when you don’t even know they are doing it,” he said.

And for the outpouring of support on Sunday’s race day, Stewart is grateful.

“I’m unbelievably humbled and appreciative for the love and the support, and it’s a reminder why Jamaica is the most beautiful country in the world,” he told the Observer.

The event, which was started in 2014 by journalist and philanthropist Janet Silvera, has grown significantly over the years.

“This is the best [year] ever,” Silvera said on Sunday. “This run has probably a 65 per cent increase over last year — we had 5,000 people last year [and] we have close to 8,000 people this year.”

In fact, while expressing how pleased she was with Sunday’s turnout, Silvera shared that she sees the number of participants growing to as much as 20,000 for future stagings of the event.

“I’m not putting it past this run, the run has the potential, we just need the roads,” she explained.

With the growing support for the annual event, she is expecting that this support will translate to greater benefits for the students who will be receiving scholarships through the proceeds from the run.

“We want to give more that $8 million, which is what we did last year. We’re going to make a lot of changes to the scholarships, we’re going to widen it,” said Silvera.

https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2025/05/05/support-jill-stewart-mobay-city-run-leaves-family-awe/