Ruta Maya kicks off tenth anniversary Friday
I don’t know where the time has gone, but when the starting gun goes off Friday morning in San Ignacio, it will mark the tenth anniversary of La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge. The one hundred and seventy-five mile long event spread over four days will feature nearly a hundred teams participating in categories ranging from the deadly serious professional to the just-happy-to-finish. While the race has evolved from a risky experiment to Belizean institution in less than a decade, its essence has changed little since 1998. That is, at one level it’s a world class extreme sporting event; at the other it’s a great chance for reasonably fit ordinary people to enjoy the camaraderie and sensory experience of a four day weekend on the river. Chairman of the Ruta Maya organising committee, Orlando Harrison, explains.
Orlando Harrison, Chair, Ruta Maya Organising Cmte.
“We call it a race within a race and really we have to give all of them the attention that they deserve. While we talk about the professional paddlers, there are also the other divisions that are competing amongst themselves. For example, the female, the intramural. There is a battle between the schools now, you know, last year U.B. won the intramural division. You also have the pleasure craft where most of the paddlers are signed up, almost seventy percent of the teams and there is a race within a race likewise. But we gotta give all of them attention, so we provide safety boats, we call them service boats also because they can replenish you with water and snacks and stuff along the way.”
Stewart Krohn
“Ten years ago when you had race number one did you think it would be where it is today?”
Orlando Harrison
“No, no this is really a surprise for us. We didn’t expect that the event would have grown to where it is today. However, we are happy to be able to do this for the country, because we feel it’s a good thing. It’s an opportunity for sports fans as well as the participants who love paddling to come together on a weekend like this and just have fun on top of the water. The other aspect of it and the part that we take serious, like we say it is more than just a race. We want to know that we are taking care of the environment and bringing the culture to the highlight of the event. Whenever we reach the banks of the rivers, we always look forward to that, meeting old folks and of course meeting new friends.”
And speaking of new friends, this year’s Ruta Maya will be surrounded by a growing number of social events. Lilly Flores of Sacred Heart Junior College is one of the organisers.
Lilly Flores, Event Organiser
“This Thursday night, the eighth of March, we’re gonna have a cultural night and it will include performance of local artists and then we will have our Belizean artists as well, Miss Leela Vernon. We will have fireworks at twelve o’clock, karaoke, and some other fun events where people can come and join in; we have dances being performed. And then on the Friday morning before the race we will have fireworks again at five a.m. and opening ceremonies by the grandmaster himself saying about his life along the river, Mr. Hector Thompson, then again performance by Miss Leela Vernon and performance by the guy who won, Mr. Rafael Collado from Benque Viejo who won for the theme song competition. The name of his song is “Let’s Row.”
Prizes for this year’s race total over forty thousand dollars in cash and kind. Defending champions are Armin Lopez, Armando Cruz, and Daniel Cruz paddling under the banner of the Belize Bank. Major sponsors for this year’s Ruta Maya are Big H, B.T.B., PACT, BECOL, IMMARBE, and the Belize Offshore Centre. The race kicks off at seven-thirty Friday morning at the Hawkesworth Bridge in San Ignacio and finishes Monday morning at the Belcan Bridge in Belize City.
