Today the Belikin La Ruta Maya River Challenge began in San Ignacio Town. The annual race stretches across the Belize River from San Ignacio and this year, it will end at the Haulover Bridge, instead of the Belcan Bridge.
The race, founded by brothers Richard and Orlando Harrison, was formed to raise environmental awareness on the rivers. Jaleeza Roberts went out West to the different Day 1 stops and filed this report:
Just after 5:00 this morning, paddlers, team managers and servicemen made their way to the bank of the Macal River for the start of the 2026 Belikin La Ruta Maya Race. After weeks of continuous controversy, race day finally arrived and 58 teams participated across all 8 categories - Some for pleasure, some for sport, some for community, but whatever their motivation was, one thing was clear, they were ready to paddle.
At 7:00 sharp the horn was blown and the paddlers sped off from the starting line. some unfortunately flipped in the first few minutes while others successfully started their race. Co-chair of the race said that this is always an exciting feeling:
Roberto Harrison, Co-Chair La Ruta Maya
"It's always exciting to be out here in a morning like this, you start to see people coming in, paddlers coming in so we registered 58 teams. We are quite excited with that number, we had hoped that we would have had atleast 65 teams registering but nonetheless, it's a good show by the teams."
"There are 8 categories so all of them were represented there, there's male, female, mixed, pleasure, masters, you have c2, you have family."
But the number of spectators were not as high as previous years. We could not pinpoint what was the exact reason for the low attendance, but it was clear that something was keeping the normal numbers from coming, expressed by Mayor Earl Trapp:
Earl Trapp, Mayor of SISE
"Well when I looked at the crowd while walking across the bridge this morning, the low lying bridge, that was almost 6:30, and the crowd for sure have been cut down from what I saw last year."
"If it's the controversy I'm not sure, people have their little dips and rise at times so I'm hoping that unity will prevail and this event that many people look forward to, international and local, something that helps to stimulate the local economy, I hope that it will be here for generations to come."
But these numbers are not distracting these 58 hopeful teams from winning the title - or at least some awards in their category.
Managing an event of this magnitude requires a lot of moving parts. Commissioner of Police, Dr.Richard Rosado, spoke briefly on his moving part - policing.
Dr. Richard Rosado, Commissioner of Police
"Throughout the event we have been meeting with the organizers to ensure that we police all the different stops, our main role is to maintain peace and order within the different stops and to ensure that we have a peaceful Ruta Maya Race."
"It requires a lot of resources, a lot of manpower but thankfully, we have brought all of our police officers who are on leave, who are on short leave and those who have staff duties to assist us in policing the event so I'm confident that we'll be able to maintain the peace throughout the event."
"Any national event like the ruta Maya require a lot of planning, a lot of of resources, and a lot of man power to ensure that we maintain the peace."
The race saw the PACT on Trak Team forge a lead early on in the race, creating an over 2 minute gap between them and their second place competitor. The team, being led by 26 Year paddler Amado Cruz, managed by CEO Francis Usher and funded by PACT was out in full force. Employees were decorated with t-shirts and fan gear, showing that they take supporting their team seriously. The team successfully crossed the finish line at a little after 12:00 in the afternoon, Bringing the first leg of the journey to an end. We spoke to the paddlers and reps on this win.
Amado Cruz, PACT On Trak Paddler
"We managed to get a lead and we maintained that pace until those guys dropped off the wave and we kept on that pace all the way."
Reporter
"What's your strategy for the rest of the race to be able to continue this first place."
Amado Cruz, PACT On Trak Paddler
"Well from here, we have like over 4 minute gap so we just gonna play safe the rest of the days but if we get a break again, we are gonna take it."
Francis Usher, PACT On Trak Team Manager
"The guys, hard work pays off and the guys have been working hard for months so I'm proud of them. It's easy to be a team manager when you have a team of professionals."
Abil Castaneda, Executive Director, PACT
"Pact is celebrating 30 years anniversary this year so team pact! So also it indeed is more than just a race, it's about the paddlers, the people and also about our environment so we ask everybody to please take that into consideration keep the riverside clean and let's make sure that we continue this race for next 30 years."
The race continues tomorrow morning and ends on Monday. The first day typically dictates how the remainder of the race will look like but with the cohort of talented paddlers on the water, it's more than just your average race. Jaleeza Roberts, 7 News.
The race will continue tomorrow at 7:00 in the morning.
