HAVANA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Despite the rain, American actor Will Smith, star of "Men in Black" and numerous other Hollywood blockbusters, donned his running gear to run through the streets of Havana, Cuba on Sunday.

Smith became the first top U.S. actor to participate in the Marabana, the most popular marathon in Cuba that gathers thousands of runners from across the Caribbean nation and other countries and regions for full and half marathons each year.

"This edition has many special elements, but there is one that has marked this year's marathon, that is the presence of famed American actor Will Smith, who ran the half marathon," the head of the organizing committee, Carlos Gattorno, told Xinhua.

Smith was one of some 6,000 runners, including 1,496 foreigners, many from the United States (278) as well as Mexico (90) and France (84), to run the circuit.

The actor trained lightly the day before along the capital's El Prado promenade, and set off from the starting line at the stroke of 7 a.m. local time, smiling and looking confident as curious onlookers watched from the sidelines.

Smith, twice nominated for an Oscar as Best Actor, was in Cuba in May 2017, when he hosted a concert for International Jazz Day that brought together musicians from both countries. Though Smith ran at a good pace, Cuba's Luis Angel Martinez won the half marathon in one hour, 11 minutes and 31 seconds.

Cuba's Dailin Belmonte won the women's race, for the seventh time, in 1:21:28. Cuba's Henry Jaen won the full marathon for the sixth time with a time of 2:33:59.