Ruta Maya canoe race kicks off Friday
In only seven years it’s become a March tradition that unites Belizeans from East to West. The eighth edition of La Ruta Maya kicks off early Friday morning and News 5’s Patrick Jones has a preview.
Patrick Jones, Reporting
Over eighty teams of three paddlers each will suit up this weekend and head out down the Belize River in search of fun, adventure…and yes, mega prizes in the eighth running of La Ruta Maya River Challenge. Competitors will race in seven categories and coordinator Orlando Harrison says the idea is to make the event fun for everyone.
Orlando Harrison, Race Organiser
?In the male division we have the Big H team of course and Pine Lumber, Belize Bank, Atlantic Bank are some of the teams that are really practicing hard. But in the other divisions it?s getting more and more interesting especial in the intramural division where the schools are competing now you have U.B. going up against Sacred Heart Junior College and then you have the Mopan Tech from Benque. They are all vying for that division in its own. And the you have the masters division, the female division, likewise the Cayo Gyal team from the San Ignacio Resort Hotel. They are also practicing very hard to defend their championship. And then we have the pleasure craft, that?s the area where most of the paddlers are concentrated because they are in the race for fun and for adventure.?
The race will take off from underneath the Hawskworth Bridge on Friday morning and end four days later at the Belcan Bridge in Belize City. It?s a gruelling one hundred and seventy nine mile event that has expanded to include teams from as far away as Japan. Harrison says that even though the race has grown over the years, organisers have not lost sight of the need to protect the river.
Orlando Harrison
?The motto of the organisation is: It?s More Than Just a Race. In fact, this year we will be taking stock of some of the trees that we have planted over the years; some three hundred trees. So we will be taking a stock of those and likewise we will do water testing along the way just to make sure we are on top.?
The race has attracted a number of local companies and businessmen, who say they recognise the need to support this environmentally friendly, fun activity.
Angelo Mouzouropoulos, Director General, IMMARBE
?Our sponsorship is two and a half thousand Belize. I believe we are one of the main sponsors. We are also supporting the event by entering a boat. And in the pleasure division.?
John Searle Jr., Sea Sports Belize
?Oh, this is the sixth year of being a co sponsor of the race. And since we are a dive operator down here and we do padi scuba instruction we?ve always given open water scuba courses to some of the winners. In the beginning we started giving it to the over all champs but since last year we gave it to the intramural champs.?
Luigi Zaldivar, Representative, Brodies
?We?ve included chocolate bars as energy before they get on the race, and we also this year we?re hoping to do small packages of breakfast cereals along the route, all in an effort to assist the paddlers to make sure they get proper nutrition along the vigorous route of the canoe race.?
This year, the team from U.B. will get stiff competition from a number of other educational institutions who have fielded teams. Kevin Quischan, who helped paddle his team to the championship in the intramural division, says he is ready for a repeat.
Kevin Quischan
?I take each competition. I don?t say that I am going to win, but I treat them the same, like the first year I went in. This year, even though my team did a lot of training, we?re still going in with confidence and I believe we?ll try our best. I don?t know if we are going to win because the river is full of surprises. It?s old but it?s full of surprises. So I will try my best and just try and be our best like last year.?
Orlando Harrison
?It?s a challenge; it?s part of the name of the race and the river seems to be one of the things the paddlers will have to contend with. It?s much lower this year. So the risk factor is much greater than in previous years. So we are asking paddlers likewise to be on the cautious side. We did a test run about two weeks ago where we flagged some of the trouble areas, fallen trees, that kind of stuff. So look out for those flags and be on the safe side.?
Patrick Jones, for News 5.
The first leg of the race will take the paddlers to Banana Bank where they will overnight. Saturday night will find them in Bermudian Landing, Sunday night in Burrel Boom before heading to the finish line at the Belcan Bridge in Belize City around noon on Monday. Among the major sponsors of the race are the Belize Tourism Board, Protected Areas Conservation Trust and Belize Electricity Limited.
