Paddlers compete on New River
If all you know about competitive paddling is the annual Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge, then watch this next story closely. The scene is the New River and the commentary comes courtesy of Orange Walk’s Centaur TV.
Manuela Ayuso, Reporting
As part of the September Celebrations in Orange Walk, 11 teams, 3 from the Orange District, and 8 from other parts of the country participated in a 40-mile canoe race organised by Quidi Castillo of Quidi Cas Canoe Tours. The race started at 10:54 a.m. at the Lamanai Outpost Lodge, just one mile south of the Lamanai Mayan Site. The race, however, did not turn out to be a neck to neck competition for the prizes, since the Pine Lumber Team sponsored by the Pine Lumber Company of San Ignacio took an early lead and keeping that pace in the scorching sun and then in the heavy rain to capture 10 of the station prizes on the waterways of the News River. The team not only picked up an easy $3,000 in station prizes, but also broke last year’s record time of 5 hours 22 minutes and 22 seconds by Team D, setting the new record to 4 hours and 4 minutes. After the race we caught up with Ceasar Bedran, manager of the Pine Lumber Team, commenting on his team’s performance.
Ceasar Bedran, Manager, Pine Lumber Team
“Sincerely, we really worked hard on it and I really feel good about the team, because for the past 3 years, we participated in the Ruta Maya and we’ve always been 3rd and 3rd and 3rd. We held our 3rd position for 3 years and this year we participated in the Agriculture Show race and we got 2nd place, so gradually we are working on it. The team we were really watching was Black Rock. Black Rock is a very competitive team with us. We’re really friendly, but when it comes to the canoe race, we normally get serious on that day. So Black Rock, the manager of Black Rock, Julian, and myself we spoke this morning and say “Let’s work on that race and who wins it wins.”
Last minute, we were balancing our canoe because we only had 2 guys and we had to look for one more guy. We found one and he was prepared to run with us, he was one of the first original Ruta Maya winners. One of the Cob brothers, and he joined our team with a lot of confidence and he said “Ceasar, let’s go ahead and do it.”
Quidi Castillo, Organiser of the Race
“A lot of planning, a lot of work, most of all. To organise this event, it was like 2 months coming to this day of the event. It was a lot of work, and I did it to promote Orange Walk as a tourist destination and also to be part of the September Celebrations activities. Like I said, this event is here to stay. It’s like you plant a seed, you nurse it, you nurture it, so with time all it could do is grow and grow in a positive fashion.”
The Pine Lumber Team was made up of 36-year old Theodolfo Cob and brothers Jesus and Juan Madera. Reporting for CTV3 I am Manuela Ayuso.
The winning team from Pine Lumber was followed by Mellow Tigers, Black Rock, Boom Uprising and Koop’s Sheet Metals.
