Ruta Maya begins in Cayo
It’s always a beautiful sight…canoes setting off from the Macal River and heading downstream. And the excitement surrounding La Ruta Maya River Challenge grows every year, as the event draws hundreds of paddlers and thousands of spectators to the banks of the Macal and Belize Rivers. Patrick Jones was standing on the sidelines at daybreak and followed the action of the first day.
Orlando Harrison, Race Organizer
“This is a spectacular event were looking forward to another big bang this year again.”
Patrick Jones, Reporting
Eighty-eight teams or two hundred and sixty-four paddlers lined up under the Hawkesworth Bridge in San Ignacio this morning for the sixth running of La Ruta Maya River Challenge. With exotic names “Swamp Witch,” “Haad Aze Pikni,” “Cayo Gial” and “Maaga Ting,” Teams from all over the country and from as far away as Canada are in the hunt for the prestigious Kinich Ahau trophy. And while forty thousand dollars in prizes is up for grabs, many of the participants come with little more than…
Tim Truman, Belize River.org
“Big grin, fun, that’s all. For us it’s not as much about the competition as being on the water.”
Thomas Rivas, Captain, Team B.D.F.
“First of all, courage, a strong mind, wanting to do it and having fun. The main thing about this is just wanting to have fun. We don’t take it as a challenge, we take it as an adventure.”
The competition is split into seven divisions. This year, organizers have added a subdivision called pleasure craft family adventure. Defending champs, the H-Team is out of this year’s race, but the paddlers Alex Lisbey, Armin Lopez, and Daniel Cruz are intent on bringing home the big prize for their new sponsor, Quality Poultry Products. But Ignacio Cruz and his teammates intend to spoil the party.
Ignacio Cruz, Pine Lumber
“Paddle. We paddle very hard and we go with all our strength that we have.”
And that’s just what they did. When the starting whistle sounded at seven o’clock, they bolted into the lead to take the first station prize at the wooden bridge across the Macal River in the opening minutes of the race. But while competition will be fierce in the professional category, at the intramural level, Gilbert Andrews says his Sacred Heart team will fight to the last stroke to defend their championship.
Gilbert Andrews, Capt., Team Sacred Heart Jr. College
“Well the team we are looking forward to beat is Mopan and U.B. at the moment because they have some very good equipment this year. But no fear, we’re still going to compete against them.”
“We have worked hard, use team work, rhythm, that’s very important, the rhythm and to be a family in the canoe, not to be apart from each other.”
And in the female category, Ana Cruz says don’t count them out either.
Ana Cruz, Captain, Cayo Gial
“Well I am taking part because I really like and it’s fun to go on Ruta Maya. Plus I like the competition.”
Patrick Jones
“What will it take for you and your friends to paddle from here to Belize City?”
Ana Cruz
“Well it’s going to be a fun day for us, because we already did it once and I think we go for the competition.”
As for these guys, we’re not sure when they will reach Belize City.
The competition has drawn a huge following as along the route hundreds of villagers flocked to the riverside to see the paddlers go by. The race kept a brisk pace for the first three hours, and the first team to round the bend in Esperanza was Quality Poultry Products followed closely by Pine Lumber.
And in case I’m not doing a good job relaying the event to you, here’s some voluntary help, that just may put Sports Monday’s James Adderley on notice.
Little Girl
“As we begin at the Hawkesworth Bridge it has been tough. People passing people back, people front, but I just want to make this out, good luck to everybody.”
Patrick Jones
“Going into the halfway point of the first leg of the race the Quality Poultry Products and Pine Lumber teams are jostling for the early lead. Observers say the water level in the river could be major factor in determining which team takes the 2004 title.”
When they passed the Iguana Creek Bridge, Quality Poultry Products held a ninety second lead over Pine Lumber and it appeared the record to Banana Bank was in jeopardy.
Orlando Harrison
“We took a couple counts of a couple of the teams and they are up to about ninety strokes per minute, so it looks like the guys are pretty much in shape. Yes, the water is contributing a lot to it, but I can see the guys really doing it hard.”
By the time the first team of paddlers arrived at Banana Bank at a quarter past midday, Quality Poultry Products laid claim not only to the first prize on day one, but a new time of five hours, fourteen minutes and thirty seconds. A full five minutes ahead of their closest rival.
Alex Lisbey
“It was day one is very hard for us because the river is low we have to paddle much harder, much strength, you have to put more energy into it.”
Pine Lumber team who had some minor problems with their canoe, came in second on the first leg of the race. Fiona and Mike Vincent who came in third say it was fun and challenging.
Fiona Vincent, Team Black Rock
“It was pretty good. It was a rough start. There was a lot of boats, a lot of boat bashing. Somebody hit us, clipped us in the end, put a hole in our boat. But it is a pretty nice river to paddle. There’s a lot of different water, there’s lots of fast water, there’s a lots of slower water. Very different from where I came from.”
Mike Vincent, Team Black Rock
“We got bumped around a lot, that’s kind of part of the big start. It’s what makes it fun and exciting, really fun to watch. So were not going to complain about that, it’s all a part of the race. So it kind of took us along time to get going and when we finally got going, we had a couple of rough spots, we broke a foot brace, hit a log and rolled over and had to get back in and tape up our hole. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll have a few less problems and we’ll go a little bit quicker.”
Patrick Jones
“The paddlers will now spend the next couple of hours fortifying their equipment and massaging those tired muscles in preparation for the next stage of the race. Exactly how much rest and sleep they will get between now and day break on Saturday we don’t know but at six thirty in the morning they will be back on the Belize River, destination Bermudian Landing. At Banana Bank, Patrick Jones, for News 5.”
The winner is the team which completes the race in the least amount of time over the four days and can come from any division. Today’s winner in the intramural division is U.B.’s Jaguars, in the masters team Snickers won, and in the mixed category it was Black Rock. Cayo Gial came in first in the female category. La Ruta Maya River Challenge ends Monday at the Belcan Bridge in Belize City.
