Twenty five years ago, before all Belize's major highways were paved, a drive to Punta Gorda was considered an off-road adventure. But now, since pavement has put a stiff, grey face on all that was mushy clay and loose gravel, off-roading is reserved for only truly adventurous bush goers. That is until Sunday when a group of urban cowboys made one heck of a mud hole at Old Belize. Our crew stopped and found a battle between old school and new: on one hand we saw modern SUV's and pickup trucks with all the bells and whistles and on the other, we found ancient land rovers, rough, but ready. Which do you think won? Well, you might be surprised.
Alfonso NobleReporting,
The smell of mud, burning rubber, burning clutches and exhaust smoke filled the air at Old Belize as spectators looked on to see who was the best at navigating this mud trap. If you wonder what makes the competitors do this, well its.
[Competitor: 'Adrenaline']
Andrew Adolphus,
"I am the four time champion."
Alfonso Noble,
When were you champion?
Andrew Adophus,
"In Ray Cattouse's farm and at the National Stadium in Belize City."
Alfonso Noble,
When was that?
Andrew Adophus,
"In the '80s, way back in the early 80s."
Alfredo Chun, Winner
"I do it for the sports, I don't do it for the money."
But it does not really matter what drives the competitors into this mud hell, one thing is for certain though it's one heck of a ride.
Scott Halroy,
"It just makes you feel alive for days afterwards and for the cause
to help the kids with the heart problems and if I could go any faster I would be. What I do is wench seatbelt as tight as possible and hold on. It was real wild, believe me, and its rough.
Its quite difficult being that it doesn't have a sharp turn radius and its only four speed and its real low so what happened is when I started I tried to hit second and it had slowly go back to first to take it over the hill."
Andrew Adophus,
"It is fun for me, a lot of fun."
Alfonso Noble,
Coming out back your vehicle looked like it was about to flip, explain to us what was going through your mind when your vehicle was doing that.
Andrew Adophus,
"It bounced, when it slammed down it jumped up back. It's a funny feeling because the hill and the mud, it's a funny feeling."
Maybe not funny, more like scary as every spin of the vehicles wheels in the mud course has drivers and spectators holding on to their seats and breaths. In the end organizer Francis Wood had the best time but had to forgo the victory
Francis Woods,
"I did get the quickest time but my front axle gave out and I couldn't do a second run so I disqualified my self so that's okay, that happens."
As that happened the best time went by default to Alfredo Tun. His brother Giovanni Tun got second place while Amin Bedran, last year's winner got third. The Tuns, both driving Belize Paradise Limited Land Rovers as well as Bedran all donated their prize money to the gift of Life Program.
Afredo Tun,
"I already donated it to the Rotary Club and I feel good about it."
Francis Woods,
"I think it really went well. In the background there is one guy who is still testing his skills on the 4X4 track but overall it went very well. We had our first place, second place, and third place winner all donate their prize to the Gift of Life program so we got like $1,300 that we didn't expect for the Gift of Life Program so really am very very pleased and I know the kids will be pleased too."
About 900 persons attended the competition. Organizer Francis Woods says the event raised close to $10,000. Another is scheduled for later this year in October or November.
