July 2012

Have you ever run not to reach the finish line but to conquer one of the wonders of the world? If you answered no, this is your chance.

Inca Trail Marathon and Races:

Since 1998, a local tourism agency has organized the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu Marathon, which is a strenuous run over mountain terrain that takes you from 8,000 to 13,500 feet to reach the Lost City of the Incas. This is recommended for very experienced runners.

If you aren’t a professional runner, there are two less strenuous alternatives, the Classic Inca Trail In-A-Day 30K (19 miles) and the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu Running Adventure, READ MORE

Marathons in Colombia have become an important leisure and fitness activity. For globetrotters looking for good places to run and practice for marathons throughout the year, check out a complete calendar of sport activities you won’t want to miss. In Colombia, May, August and September are great months to find road races and other competitions. You can sign up as an individual or as a group for a chance to win prizes of up to 30.000.000 Colombian pesos (USD$17.000). READ MORE

Run for Fun at this Altitude?!

It was a bit of a surprise to find out there are a lot of enthusiastic runners in the Andes, but it was a shock to discover they have been around for 50 years.

I assumed the idea of “running for fun” was a North American concept, but it seems to have just as long a tradition in Quito.

The tradition of running for fun has grown to the point where you can find road races, marathons, and other competitions throughout the country, at every altitude, almost every week. Find a complete list of races by month and city at Carreras Ecuador.

Quito 15K
Last month Quito celebrated the 50th anniversary of its “Últimas Noticias” 15K run, sponsored by the El Comercio Newspaper. READ MORE

Road races are increasingly becoming more popular in Chile. Nowadays it’s easy to run a marathon on Santiago’s streets or a triathlon or a road race in other regions of the country throughout the year. All you have to do is search for these runs and sign up!

Chile Triathlons:
The first triathlon took place in Chile’s capital, Santiago, in 1984… and it was a huge success! Two years later another triathlon was organized, but this time in the beautiful town of Pucón (southern Chile). By the year 1988, the Pucón event was introduced to the world when the North American journalist C. J. Olivares wrote an article for Triathlete Magazine. It then achieved global recognition in 1989 with the participation of six-time Ironman Triathlon World Champion, Mark Allen. READ MORE

Last year, more than 7,000 runners crossed the finish line of the Buenos Aires Marathon and set a record for the biggest running race in the history of the nation. This year, on October 7^th, the city is aiming to break that record yet again. If the countless marathon fliers papering the capital right now are any indication, this year’s race may very well be its largest yet.

If you want to be a part of the action, you can sign up online. Register now, before August 1^st, and the participation fee is just AR $135 for residents of Argentina – or USD $70 for foreigners. After that date, the price jumps to AR $165 for Argentines and to USD $80 foreigners, until entry is closed on Friday, September 28^th. READ MORE

Back in the 1980s, a man named Tom Miller came to Ecuador to explore the Panama Hat Trail, writing a book by the same title. The Panama Hat (despite what the name suggests) comes from Ecuador and Miller was in search of its origins. But along the way he had one very big frustration.  He could never find a good cup of coffee in Ecuador.

Today, Miller’s experience would be hard to duplicate because in the past eight years Ecuador has seen an explosion in great coffee and great places to drink it. READ MORE

This year, the Festival de Música Interactiva de Uninorte en Verano is turning five years-old. Uninorte is one of the most important universities in the coast of Colombia. It is also a recognized institution in certain subjects such as engineering and law. The festival is sponsored by the Uninorte Centro Cultural Cayena, the Academic Viceprincipal and the music program of the university.

The Uninorte Music Festival is an important event because it promotes music and fosters new talent in Barranquilla and the surrounding region.

The event is open to all music lovers and admission is free. Events start in May and end with a final concert and announcement of winners in early August. READ MORE

Few people outside of Ecuador realize how popular the coastal region is, not just for nationals who like to escape to the beach – particularly those who live in the Andes – but another entire population invades the coastal waters from June to September—whales!  They come from Chile, Argentina, and even points further south.

Photo: Cristina Castro

Humpback whales make their way to equatorial waters during the summer to mate and give birth in warmer waters, offering tourists a rare chance to see one of nature’s greatest mammals in her natural environment.

It is estimated that about 7,000 whales come from southern Chile to the tropics each year. Over the years, expert whale watchers have identified about 2,000 unique whales in Ecuadorian waters, based on their unique tail markings, which essentially amount to a fingerprint. READ MORE

If you were to draw a circle on a map, with a two-hour radius around Quito, and then throw a dart anywhere within it, it would surely land on a place where you could spend the day – or many days – exploring and discovering more of Ecuador than you ever thought possible.

Today we threw our dart and it landed North of Quito, near San Pablo Lake. San Pablo Lake is in Imbabura Province, between Cayambe and Otavalo, or about one and a half hours from Quito.

READ MORE