New challengers unseat Belize Bank in Ruta Maya race

While most of us will spend the long weekend relaxing, more than two hundred and fifty people will spend the holiday paddling from San Ignacio to Belize City. I can sit here and say that matter of factly but as News Five’s Marion Ali reports, it’s called the Ruta Maya River Challenge for a very good reason.

Marion Ali, Reporting
From as early as four a.m. fire trucks were patrolling the streets of San Ignacio, reminding residents that the start of the eleventh Annual La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge was imminent. And at that hour, last minute preparations were underway beneath historic Hawkesworth Bridge.

Breakfast by torch-light came courtesy of sponsors and private citizens but the early morning excitement picked up with energizing displays during the official opening ceremony.

By six paddlers, their canoes, sponsors, and supporters had flooded the riverbank, as they nervously waited for the starting bullhorn.

From the onset, the Caribbean Pride team showed they were out to shake up things. Using their lead, the paddlers would go on to widen that gap throughout the race. While the fierce competitiveness of the participants takes centre stage, the race highlights the diversity of the Macal River.

Hustace Conorquie, Onlooker, La Ruta Maya Race
“Every year we go fishing deh pass we sometimes by Never Delay or More Tomorrow and we all time give deh service, sometimes we give deh ice water and boost deh up.”

Marion Ali
“No fish?”

Hustace Conorquie
We noh give deh fish. We wouldn’t give deh cause deh no ask right.”

Clemente Cruz, onlooker, La Ruta Maya Race
“This Ruta Maya dah noh just wah race. When yoh really think bout the Ruta May race you really go way back when deh man used to travel from Belize to San Ignacio and what not eena deh big boat and what not, they bring provisions and what not for the people dah San Ignacio and what not, this same river. What happened the river kinda change because you have certain areas now weh kinda shallow now and at that time deh mi deep but I think due to erosion up the river and what not ih cover some of the areas and what not and so some parts ah di river get showl and what not .”

Marion Ali
“Which team you di ride with?”

Clemente Cruz
“Well I di ride with the winning team weh da Belize Bank.”

While things were smooth-sailing for most of the paddlers, the Reagan International team lost a man at the Spanish Lookout Ferry when he got sick after their canoe capsized.

Sheldon Seguro, Team Member, Reagan Int’l
“Coming down the river, we turn over and noh water never deh at the fall up yonder soh.”

Marion Ali
“And then yoh start drinking the river water?”

Sheldon Seguro
“Yap and then I feel bad now.”

Marion Ali
“Think you’ll recover by the end of the day for leg two?”

Sheldon Seguro
“Yes ma’am.”

Despite that setback, Reagan still managed to place fifth.

Marion Ali
“Jerry in the first half of the race you lost one of your team members. How difficult did that make it for the rest of you?”

Jerry Rhaburn, Captain, Reagan Int’l
“Make us have to work a little bit harder, as you can see we try.”

Marion Ali
“That placed you in fifth place unofficially?

Jerry Rhaburn
“Yeah

Marion Ali
“ Does he come back tomorrow?”

Jerry Rhaburn
“Yeah, he get to come back tomorrow cause deh talk to the official already bout the guy. so I guess …”

Marion Ali
“Having done so well with only two men do you think with his coming back will give you an edge now?”

Jerry Rhaburn
“Well tomorrow will tell. I guess we just gotta work harder tomorrow, that’s all.”

But the story of the day was the Caribbean Pride crew.

Christopher Guydis, Team Captain, Caribbean Pride
“I think we mek a move too early but I think it’s the best move I ever make.”

Marion Ali
“Weh yoh mean too early? You won the leg.”

Christopher Guydis
“We win the leg but I think eena the first hour I decide ah wah mek wah move and see if the guys could follow and deh didn’t ketch up so excellent for me.”

Jonathan Madrid, Co-captain
“I paddle like seven years before and this was the hardest I trained. I wanted to win it all and we did a good team work, not only me one, the whole team, good team work.”

Marion Ali
“This is encouraging to you I must take it, but you have three more days ahead of you.”

Jonathan Madrid
“Yeah I guess it will be easier cause I think we did like a ten minutes gap right now.”

While defending champs Belize Bank had to settle for second, team captain Armin Lopez says don’t count them out of the race just yet.

Armin Lopez, team Captain, Belize Bank Team
“I think deh boy good you know, deh boy, I mi seh before deh light and so but this first day deh boy mi wa drop wi so we mi di try keep as close as we could but deh boy manage fi put five minutes or so over we mein. Deh deserve it, like weh I say, if deh win deh deserve win but we have three more days fi paddle so we wah see weh wah happen.”

Marion Ali
“And yoh think yoh could mek up back?”

Armin Lopez
“Well I have that mentally, the race noh done until it’s over you know.”

And while the pro teams are wrestling for the top positions, other teams are just in it for fun.

Timothy Vanegas, Team Captain, Immarbe
“Last two weeks we gone pan di race from Boom to Belize and we win that one and I know it will be kinda difficult with this one yah cause we have more competition this year but we still going fo fi we best.”

Inspector Dinsdale Thompson, Team Police
“Last year we only had one team but this year we have two teams. We have a female and a male and we’re ready and all hyped up to press on in this race. We do expect great support from the community and also too from the Department as well.”

Marion Ali
“Normally the police are the ones to put people in check but in this case are you the upstart ones here?”

Dinsdale Thompson
“Well in this case we have names such as Crime Fighters and Peace Makers and we do intend to support those names fully demonstrating that in the river and also too in building the relationship while we’re in this competition.”

Sho Miyazaki, Japanese Team
“I living in San Ignacio as a Japanese volunteer so I’m interested in doing La Ruta Maya so I want to take part in La Ruta Maya, first time.”

Marion Ali
“Does being in the military give you an edge over regular folk?”

Lt. Col., Peter Jermain, BATSUB Team Captain
“Oh no it doesn’t. In the military we put some weights on our back and we have to be able to cover a lot of ground but that’s completely different to using your upper body and that sort of thing, but I think the team work helps, but we’re out here just to enjoy it. We’re not here to compete with the professionals out at the front there.”

Organisers admit even though they’ve been a few hiccups along the way, Ruta Maya will get better every year.

Orlando Harrison, Chairman, La Ruta Maya Organising Committee
“For this first leg of the race prizes are to the tune of twelve thousand and odd dollars, overall we have about forty thousand dollars to the Belcan Bridge. That’s total, including cash and in-kind prizes.”

Fermin Magana, Member, La Ruta Maya Organising Committee
“I think it will become a classic and usually when they call something a classic it’s fifty years time that have to past for something to happen. Now I do think that the Ruta Maya is something that will continue growing as we expect to grow in the years to come and we also expect the Ruta Maya to become more well-known outside of this country. So I do believe it will be here with us for a very long while.”

Reporting for News Five Marion Ali.

Placing third in today’s leg was Caribbean Tire, while Atlantic Bank placed fourth. This year, there are ninety-five teams taking part in Ruta Maya, with participants hailing from Belize, the U.S., the U.K., Mexico, Canada, Japan and Germany. Day two is the longest stage in the race as teams will paddle from Banana Bank to Bermudian Landing.