|
Winning team crosses
finish line-Photo by Julian Sherrard
|
Although they sunk three times on the
first day of last year's race, earning a second place position, the Black
Rock Lodge team emerged as champions of this year's La Ruta Maya Belize
River Challenge. The three-man Cayo team comprised of boatsmen Alex "The
Engine" Lisbey, Armin "Benji" Lopez and Leroy "Iron Man" Romero, were
sponsored, managed and coached by Julian and Caesar Sherrard of Black
Rock Lodge/Caesar's Place in Cayo.
Approximately 58 professional and 20 amateur
teams, launched their vessels last Friday for this 180 mile-plus
competition, deemed the longest canoe race in Central America. Starting
beneath Hawkesworth Bridge in San Ignacio, paddlers struggled for three
and one-half days to break records in an effort to be the first to reach
the BelCan Bridge in Belize City. In addition to the many Belizeans
racing, a team from Paddler Magazine and
five British Army teams competed internationally.
To meet the challenge, the Black Rock team trained
half-days, three times a week for three months using the same canoe as
last year, with the exception of a few race-worthy modifications.
Sporting "camel packs" for hydration and gloves for protection, the
teammates were referred to as "machines" each evening by fellow canoers
as they appeared tireless and undaunted by the grueling race. Coach
Julian exclaimed, "These guys are hard working and dedicated. They earned
it and deserved to win."
The winning vessel, a two-year-old, homemade "modified
split" canoe, was built by Jim Smith of Florida, USA. "Uncle Jim" as he
is called, is a woodworker who, prior to this had only worked on
sailboats. This was a bonus week for the gentleman as he was not only
present for the race, he also celebrated his
73 rd birthday on
Wednesday the
8th.
Winning second place overall was Joe Grind's team,
also in a homemade boat built by Dean Lindo. Interestingly, of the first
seven canoes to finish, six were home-built. Although no records were
broken this year due to low water, the first-place winners of the La Ruta
Maya River Challenge amassed over $14,600 in collective prizes. Closing
ceremonies for the event are being planned and will be announced at a
later date. Congratulations to Black Rock Lodge and all who dared to meet
the "challenge".
|