THE YASUNI CHALLENGE: 8 ROUTES LEFT

Pics of the 4 regions of Ecuador: coast, highlands, jungle and islands

You’re invited to the 8 editions yet to be run, of the 21x24 Challenge. Come and participate in one or more of the running trails of Ecuador. It's wonderful to visit a so accessible, diverse and beautiful country. Each route is an adventure. Take advantage of jogging with friends, supplies, security… unique!

Register early so we can give you transportation and lodging: mlhernandez@solidario.fin.ec
The next routes are:

. Vilcabamba, Loja: Sunday, February 19 (Carnival holidays) We will be at hotel Mar de Tierra. It’s cool. In this town there are lots of good and cosy hostels. www.mardetierra.com.ec
• Puyopungo – Puyo, Pastaza: Sunday, March 11 – there will be transportation from Quito
• El Angel / Mira / Uyamá, Carchi: Sunday, April 8 – there will be transportation from Quito
• San Cristóbal, Galápagos Islands: Saturday, May 12. Follow this link to get more info:
http://www.cometogalapagosmarathon.com/ It’s expensive but the Islands are the Islands… like no other!
. Riobamba , Urbina, Chimborazo: Sunday, June 10 - there will be transportation from Quito
• Valle Hermoso, La Abundancia, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas: Sunday, July 8 - there will be transportation from Quito
• Manteles, Patate, Tungurahua: Sunday, August 12 - there will be transportation from Quito
• Yasuní, Orellana: Sunday, September 9 (¡¡¡end of the Challenge!!!) Sign up early and book from Friday 7 to Monday 10. There is only one way to enter the Yasuní to run the Challenge.

WE RUN FOR A CAUSE:
TO PROTECT LIFE IN THE YASUNI NATIONAL PARK
ONE OF THE LAST ECOLOGICAL RESERVES IN THE WORLD AND THE MOST BIODIVERSE

¡WE GOT SUCUMBIOS!

The January route was accomplished this last Sunday in Nueva Loja, Sucumbios. With this 16th edition, two thirds of the 21x24 Challenge are overcome.

It rained very hard last night and left with runners dodging some rain puddles. Denis Cazar came from Riobamba and offered to run again in the Galapagos route. Franklin Jara appeared after missing a few months. In his words:"It was a pleasure to run back to those beautiful places”. He said he would start in January and there he was.

Andrés Castillo, member of the team lived in Sucumbíos 32 years ago during the military draft and the whole journey he was narrating his experiences in the jungle. Another founder of the Challenge, Patricio Chavez, had to hold back and go with the group due to the hazardous area.

They run part in asphalt and jogged the rest in a dirt and stoned trail, while very few people in the roads looked at them kind of surprised. A reporter yesterday said “in Lago Agrio runners have never run 21 kilometers ... can you run just 10k?

Sorrounding La Perla (short for Ecological and Recreational Lago Agrio Park) they were accompanied by the croaking of giants frogs, singing birds, rain and fresh air. The arrival was spectacular as Gladys Granda, head of the Park, had prepared a canoe ride across the lagoon Psasa Pari Jaira. The riders were transported to a sanctuary of silence, peace and wildlife.

That is why the physical effort to run 21 km every month, and mental sacrifice that involves coordinating the project. It's worth fighting in favor of the rainforest and its thousands of species.

MORE... IN THE NEXT BLOG

SUCUMBIOS is ready

This edition of the 21x24 Challenge was accomplished thanks to the support of Banco Solidario, sponsor convinced of the Cause. Other sponsors are: Vivant, Podium and Destino Tierra. The National Police provided excellent support in this 16th route.

The next routes are:
· Vilcabamba, Loja: Sunday, February 19 (Carnival holidays)
· Puyopungo – Puyo, Pastaza: Sunday, March 11
· El Angel / Mira / Uyamá, Carchi: Sunday, April 8
· San Cristóbal, Galápagos Islands: Saturday, May 12. Follow this link to get more info:
http://www.cometogalapagosmarathon.com/
· Riobamba , Urbina, Chimborazo: Sunday, June 10
· Valle Hermoso, La Abundancia, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas: Sunday, July 8
· Manteles, Patate, Tungurahua: Sunday, August 12
· Yasuní, Orellana: Sunday, September 9 (¡¡¡end of the Challenge!!!)

WE RUN FOR A CAUSE:
TO PROTECT LIFE IN THE YASUNI NATIONAL PARK
ONE OF THE LAST ECOLOGICAL RESERVES IN THE WORLD AND THE MOST BIODIVERSE

SANTA ELENA route is already done

We ran Santa Elena province on December 11. It was the 15th route of the 21x24 Challenge for the protection of Yasuni National Park.

The meeting point was in the Salinas Marine Base (Base Naval). The sun and the moon where present at dawn. We talked about Yasuni while some marines at the entrance gate watched us with curiosity.

We departed in a pickup truck to the small town of Ancon, and 22 runners started the race at 6:45am guided by a police patrol unit. Heat was our companion all the way, and we didn’t collapsed thanks to the water (Vivant) and the orange juice (Storm) supplies.

In Km 10, the Mar Bravo view was like a balm in this dry and wonderful flat route.
“I am just training” said a relaxed Juan Fernando Fernández who helped us to coordinate this edition of the 21x24 Challenge. Julie, Whitni, Jordan and Kelsea, four Peace Corps volunteers, got to the finish line with stamina and a smile. The toe-shoes worn by one of them, attracted everyone’s interest.

Christmas spirit arrived to the Santa Elena coast after this Jingle Bell trout among friends. We got a sea bath in Miramar and afterwards had breakfast in our hostess Paula Roman’s terrace.

This was the last route of 2011, a nice year with 12 running unforgettable trails through Cotopaxi, Manabí, Los Ríos, Morona Santiago, Guayas, Esmeraldas, Manabí, El Oro, Cañar, Bolívar, Zamora, Santa Elena… Ecuador at its best!!

OUR INSPIRATION:
We are inspired and motivated by Ivan Vallejo, Ecuadorian mountaineer who finished his "Desafio 14" – a personal quest for reaching the summit of all 14 mountains above 8,000 m (eight-thousanders), without the use of supplemental oxygen. @ivallejo14x8000 http://pic.twitter.com/UTuSYqeY

We finished the #15 edition of the 21x24 Challenge with the sponsorship of Banco Solidario. We also say thanks to Vivant, Podium and Destino Tierra. Diario El Comercio, http://www.ecuadorenvivo.com/ Fundación Amazonía por la Vida, Radio Quito, Radio La Poderosa, Revista Solidario, http://www.ruta42.com/ and the local press that helps us to spread the Cause.

The next route is Sucumbíos, on January 15, 2012. There are 9 provinces left and more and more excitement is what we feel...

WE RUN FOR A CAUSE:
TO PROTECT LIFE IN THE YASUNI NATIONAL PARK
ONE OF THE LAST ECOLOGICAL RESERVES IN THE WORLD AND THE MOST BIODIVERSE

Running in Ecuador

Some of the running clubs in Quito and Cumbaya are:

Ruta 42: www.ruta42.org
Zerolimites: Coordinator phone: 099 490 598 Hipatia Puente
Both are located in La Carolina Park, Quito
Ecuador Runners: www.ecuadorrunners.com located in La Esquina Mall, Cumbaya. Trainer Guido Bustillos.

The Challenge or “Reto 21x24” started a year ago with a small group of members and local athletes. It invites runners to a Cross country halfmarathon every month in each of the 24 Ecuadorian provinces for a Cause: to protect the Yasuni National Park from oil explotation and deforestation.

Everyone is welcome to be a part of our running club Ecuadorunners (or the other ones whose members are friends of us and train mostly in Quito) and also to come to the Challenge 21x24 to participate in any of the next editions.

Coming this week: Santa Elena, Salinas 10 Dec!

The Challenge 21x24 arrives to Santa Elena

The next route of this adventure around Ecuador is on Sunday, December 11 in Santa Elena province, from Ancon to Salinas.

Meeting point: Naval Base (Base Naval) Salinas, at 6:00am.
Salinas is located at 1 ½ hours west from Guayaquil, Ecuadorian principal port.
Departure: Ancon, at 6h30

This iniciative invites to run a half marathon (21km) in each province of Ecuador, one a month. The runners have ran from October 2010, 14 routes in rural scenarios of the provinces of Imbabura, Azuay, Pichincha, Manabí, El Oro, Morona Santiago, Cotopaxi, Cañar, Napo, Guayas, Esmeraldas, Los Ríos, Bolivar and Zamora Chinchipe.

Route 10 was fulfilled on July 10 in an ecological reserve called Parque El Lago of Chongon, which is located at 25 minutes from Guayaquil, the main port of Ecuador. The weather was warm and windy, so the athletes could finish the 21k in about 2 hours.

The Cotopaxi cruise was freezing, windy and at an altitude difficult for any human being to run through: 3.880 to 4.300 mnms. Route 14, Zamora Chinchipe was traced into the Podocarpus Forest boundaries; and route 11, Esmeraldas started at Same beach and ended in Hidden Beach. Both adventures were experienced at 85 °F.

Every route has its particular chronicle, each one very different from the other. The trails and the landscape, the participants and their own experiences, the weather and the way to arrive to the departure point, make every monthly race a new story.

For instance, among the runners in Guayas, there were two American athletes from Peace Corps, Amanda and Diana, who got into the Challenge by searching a race in Ecuador. Though one of them live in Guayaquil, she didn’t know about the Parque El Lago Reserve. Another runner traveled all the night from the highlands and after he ran, he jumped into the water to cool himself.

This running program will cover 504km all the way through September 2012. Has invited 294 participans in the 416 already traced and ran kilometers. The Organization summaries its Cause in one phrase: ¡We are against oil operation in Yasuni!

For those who will not run the Challenge 21x24 and want to support the Cause of the protection of Yasuni, can do the following:

• Write your opinión about oil operations in Yasuni to mlhernandez@solidario.fin.ec or publish it in your FB or Twitter.
• Inform about the presence of oil companies in Yasuni.
• Get information and visit this unique reserve.
• And/or buy the Challenge 21x24 t-shirt

Registration spots:
1. At the beginning of every route.
2. PODIUM Sports Store
Luxemburgo N34-340 y Portugal, Edf. Braganza Phone.: 593 2 3331 509
Quito – Ecuador

Fee: $25 (includes t-shirt, 24 routes, water and fruit stations)

Further information:

http://challenge21x24yasuni.blogspot.com/

http://21kx241provincias.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/lourdeshernande
http://www.banco-solidario.com/
Contact: mlhernandez@solidario.fin.ec
Phone.: 95669133

WE RUN FOR A CAUSE:
TO PROTECT LIFE IN THE YASUNI NATIONAL PARK
ONE OF THE LAST ECOLOGICAL RESERVES IN THE WORLD AND THE MOST BIODIVERSE