TINY BELIZE BEATS PANTS OFF TEXANS

* It is a long way, 260 miles.
Hmmmnn! What can I say? It's all adventure and fun.
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Team Belize wins Texas Water Safari ( Again!!!! )

The canoe team from the tiny Central American country of Belize beat the 260 mile canoe race, Texas Water Safari in June, 2009. Texans talk big and this is billed as the toughest canoe race in the world. The Belize team is made up of contenders for the 200 mile winding Belize River, Ruta Maya Challenge down in Belize. The three man canoe team came from Esperanza, a village about 2 miles from my house, Eastward on the main Western/Eastern highway. ( We only have two paved highways, East West and North South. ) Composed of two Texans as well to make up the complement for the Texas Safari, to make up the team and the rest were Belizeans. The Ruta Maya race in Belize is an ordeal every March, of a 3 day race, with overnight stops, that requires canoes to average no less than 14 miles an hour to get into the top ten places. Somebody from Texas invited them up one year and since then they are more or less undisputed champions. Showing that David can still beat Goliath.
There were a 100 canoes in the race, with entries from as far away as Belize ( the favorite to win and they did! ) and even DUBAI on the Persian Gulf. Twelve other states of the USA competed. The river water was the lowest recorded. Winning time was less than 34 hours. Participants ranged from teenagers to a 71 year old.

Belize - MARCH CANOE RACE GETTING ENTRIES FROM ALL OVER.

12 th ANNUAL RUTA MAYA CROSS COUNTRY CANOE RACE OF BELIZE TRAINING, STARTS NOW!

The famous cross country canoe race is gearing up for the 6th to 9th of March, three day ordeal of paddling a canoe down the Belize River, at an average speed of 14 miles an hour, to the Caribbean coast. The race is done in three legs, with camping along the river banks in between. Registration forms can be obtained online at: http://www.larutamayabelize.com Or from the sponsor; Big H office at 35 Buena Vista St. in San Ignacio Town in the Western Belize Recreational Area. Local telephone is: 824 2444. Entry fee is $125 usa, or $250 Belize currency.
The race rules are; three paddlers for each canoe in canoes between 18 feet and 20 feet long. There is also a dory division this year. This is the longest and most difficult canoe race in our hemisphere of the world. Local Belizean paddlers have won the USA TEXAS canoe races several times. Just finishing the race, is a challenge of endurance. There are OLD FARTS, women competitors and other comical entries, attempting to see if they can paddle the three day distance. There are numerous commercial sponsors for station prizes.
E mail enquires to: inquiries@highjuices.com
A number of foreign competitors are expected this year and one would expect that the United Kingdom British Army would field a team or two again? The USA military were invited to compete last year, but seem afraid to accept the challenge? Are the US SEALS really good you think? We are curious to find out. Certainly the TEXAS canoe race people need to come and get their own back and learn what a real canoe race is like, since they got beat by the Belize canoe paddlers up in the Texas race last year. We would like to see some Canadians come and show us how the Canadian fur traders did it in their historical times. We don’t expect any wimpy European paddlers though, this race is too tough for them. This is a race, of mind over matter, endurance, stamina and skill. The distance with the twists and turns of the Belize River is about 200 miles.
This is the OLYMPICS of long distance canoe racing.
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