Ruta Maya begins 4 days of river racing
You can measure the ordeal using a number of different yardsticks: time spent on the water, distance travelled, or the number of strokes of the paddle… But however you chose to quantify it, just completing La Ruta Maya is a feat of which even the last place finisher can be proud.
Stewart Krohn, Reporting
Sometimes you have to wonder who’s crazier–the thousand or so people who lined the riverbank at dawn–or the over two hundred brave souls who will paddle their hearts out for the next four days.
It’s year four of La Ruta Maya River Challenge and the race continues to grow with a fascinating combination of hard core canoeists anxious to win sixty thousand dollars in prizes… and a mixed bag of adventurers looking for what they think will be fun.
At one end of the spectrum is Leonard Myers and his team from Manatee. They won the race two years ago for Cheers and are now paddling under the sponsorship of Mellow Tiger.
Leonard Myers, 1999 Ruta Maya Winner
“My particular strategy for the race is to catch them in the runs and stay with them down all the rapids, more frequent so that we could drop them in the rapids.”
Stewart Krohn
“You’ve been practicing a lot to get in shape for the race?”
Leonard Myers
“Yeah. This year we did a lot of practice. We go to Belize, we’d go Northern Lagoon, Mullins River, we did a lot of long runs for this race this year.”
At the opposite end of the learning curve is the race’s youngest competitor “Bobby Dee” Usher of the team called “River Babies.”
Stewart Krohn
“Bobby, how old are you?”
Roberta Usher, Youngest Paddler
“Thirteen.”
Stewart Krohn
“What possess a thirteen year old young lady to get into a four day canoe race that’s really gonna beat you up?”
Roberta Usher
“I don’t know. I want to do it. I like it.”
Stewart Krohn
“Do you do a lot of canoeing?”
Roberta Usher
“No.”
Stewart Krohn
“How long have you been practicing for this?”
Roberta Usher
“One day, one hour.”
Women seemed to be a growing minority in the year’s race. The Belize Defence Force, in addition to its two men’s team, also entered a boat full of females… who swore they were volunteers.
Sgt. Mary Palacio, Belize Defence Force
“It seems challenging and exciting an we worked out for three weeks. I think we are willing and we work as a team and we have unity, so I think we’re going to pull through.”
Stewart Krohn
“How do you think you’re gonna feel at the end of this thing?”
Sgt. Mary Palacio
“I think we’re going to feel some muscle aches, but we’ll push to the end.”
The BDF paddlers were not the only military entries. BATSUB and the British Army fielded a total of eight teams… led by their river hardened commander in full war paint.
Stewart Krohn
“Colonel, you paddled in this race last year, why on earth are you back again?”
Col. David Leigh, Commander, BATSUB
“You know, I really don’t know. I never thought I’d do it again, but we got eight boats this year, a lot of interests and actually to just take part in probably the biggest thing in Belize, so I’m happy that we’re doing it again. I won’t be happy in four days time, but I at the moment I’m quite happy about it.”
Stewart Krohn
“How does paddling in this race compare to some of the training you do in the army?”
Col. David Leigh
“It compares very favorably, it’s not just about endurance, it’s actually about team work and going on for a long time just to build up. This is every bit as valuable to us as our conventional training up in the hills.”
Annoucer
“Ten minutes to the start of the race. You want to be getting in the water.”
With time running out, the close to seventy teams made their last minute preparations.
Amateurs were placed to the rear, professionals to the front and the race blasted off at 7:00 sharp in a frenzy of action. (Gun sounds)
After a few minutes of fury, the competitors settled down to find their rhythm and come to terms with the next one hundred and seventy-five miles of the Belize River. Among the early front runners was the boat sponsored by Pine Lumber Company.
Amin Bedran, Pine Lumber Company
“We’ve been in the race since the first time. Our team has come in third for the past three years and our team was father and two sons. The only thing we are doing different this year is that the old man stepped down and a younger boy is in the canoe. We are hoping to come in the first bunch. There’s a lot of competitive canoes out here and whatever happens happens, but we are happy just to be in the first bunch.”
One team well out of the first bunch sported a great name and even better mix of personalities. The “Swamp Witches” are led by Belizean Henry Arnold and two friends from abroad.
Henry Arnold, Swamp Witches Team
“These ladies are so strong and encouraging and it really amazes me to see two ladies like…I mean these ladies are all the way from America. They have this vision to believe that they can do it, so I just said well I’ll give it a try and we’ll do it together.”
And together was the only way it could be done… whether on the water–or in it. (canoes turn over)
And accidents on the water were not limited to canoes, as News 5’s Brent Toombs discovered when his camera boat suddenly struck a submerged log.
Fortunately, the British Army helicopter was a more stable camera platform… And as the beauty of Belize’s fertile midsection unfolded below, the paddlers dug deep for strength and thought about the barbecue that lay ahead at Banana Bank… not to mention the next three days of pain. Stewart Krohn for News Five.
The race continues down the Belize River over the next three days and finishes on Sunday on the Haulover Creek near the Belize City centre. The canoe with the shortest total elapsed time will be declared the winner.
PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO A PUBLIC AND BANK HOLIDAY ON FRIDAY, MARCH 9TH, THE NEXT NEWSCAST WILL BE ON MONDAY, MARCH 12TH.
