ROUTE TUNGURAHUA STARTS WITH A VOLCANO ERUPTION

Fotos: Christoph Hirtz

The volcano erupts during the 21x24Challenge in TUNGURAHUA

This tour had the largest group of the previous ones, with the participation of over 150 runners, most of them from Ambato. 

The eruption of Tungurahua volcano at the right time of the start, welcomed a day of sports and nature.

The 23^rd route of the 21x24 Challenge was traced from Patate to Baños going through Puñapi and Lligua.

Lourdes Hernandez, coordinator of the challenge, said: “when we started with the first route Urcuquí, Imbabura, we didn’t know what was coming and we felt fresh to face the next routes. Today we're exhausted but happy, because we have experienced many good moments: to meet the Ecuadorian athlete, dedicated and generous, who lives in every corner of this country with a different way of acting, respectful of the planet and his/her community. We now know dozens of new routes that we have never imagined existed, and finally we have left our footprints on the roads hoping to prevent the destructive footprint of oil exploitation in Yasuni.”

The goal of the Challenge is to raise awareness of Ecuadorians to one of the last spot of high biodiversity, and to achieve a change of mind about the danger that Yasuni is facing cause of the oil exploitation and other 'invasions' (timber, mining, settler).

The organizers of the route were: Lenin Altuna and Grace Borja, Ambato amateur athletes, who invited many friends like the 'Cathedral runners' and the Cachañanta Puricuna’s from Riobamba.

The Challenge is made possible by the support of Banco Solidario who believed in the initiative and now wants to continue promoting the cause through athletics, with a great Rece in favor of Yasuni.

Other supporters: Vivant, Alamo and Amazonia por la vida. Also: Iván Vallejo, Franklin Tenorio and Maria Teresa Guerrero. The office of the Yasuní-ITT Initiative gave us hats and bracelets, pictures and information.

Results to August 6, 2012:

483 kilometers

612 Participants

148 Publications

We heard while jogging...

“The bad ‘vibes’ are left on the pavement.”

“I've stopped aging though running.”

“I've already down 38 pounds of weight because I went out jogging one day and my wife did not believe me. I was challenged and since then, I have not stopped.”