Cuba Libre!:
Country's First Adventure Race a Success
CAna FideliA Quirot paused when she reached the banks of the San Cristobal River that runs through a pristine canyon 60 miles west of Havana, Cuba. Quirot and the rest of her teammates on the Briko/Che Guevera team were on the first day of the country’s first adventure race in mid-February, a five-day sprint stage race called the First International Eco-Adventure of Cuba. They and the other 10 teams had run 12 kilometers beneath the hot Cuban sun, through a forest and down a hillside laden with grapefruit, orange and lemon trees. Now, as they got ready to plunge into the river, something became apparent — Quirot may have been one of the world’s greatest 800-meter runners, but she did not know how
to swim.
This was bit of a problem for Team Briko. The 41-year-old Quirot, however, was fearless, sliding over waterfalls and making her way downstream in a demonstration of the grit that made her a two-time World Champion, two-time Olympic medalist and one of the most beloved Cuban athletes ever.
It was just such grit that organizer Luca Rosseti, head of the Italian firm Axioma, showed in dealing
with the myriad challenges of setting up the first full-scale adventure race in Cuba. Just as the athletes, comprised mainly of Italians and Cubans (many of them among the country’s top triathletes) faced the hills,
rivers and lakes of this planned ecological community in the Pinar del Rio province, so did Rosseti have to overcome the daunting logistics of organizing his event in a poor country struggling through its 43rd year of a U.S. embargo.
“It does have the potential to stay on the calendar,” said Javier Clavelo, a Havana journalist and runner who gave live race reports on Cuban radio, “although it requires a great deal of work on the part of the organizers.”
It would be well worth the effort, said Robert Walz, president of Last Frontier Expeditions, which brings legal travelers to Cuba. “An eco-race in Cuba has unlimited potential,” Walz said. “The most important thing about Cuba is how its biospheres are totally sacrosanct. The country is so beautiful, and all the flora and fauna are totally inventoried.”
Coming on the heels of new endurance events in Panama, Costa Rica, and Trinidad and Tobago, the Eco-Adventure race went off relatively smoothly. Three of the days were spent in the region near Las Terrazas, a town of roughly 1,000 which was built in an area that had been completely deforested during the 1950s. Now it has organic restaurants, artists and wonderful stands of mature trees.
Another day included caving and cross country running near Vinales, the tobacco growing region of Cuba. The final leg of the Eco-Adventure was an 8k road run race through Old Havana, starting at Havana Cathedral and finishing at the Riveria Hotel on the Malecon. The race also included horseback riding, paddling on innertubes, trail running and orienteering, and like every race, a few teams got lost and a few athletes suffered minor injuries.
On the second day, Argentine triathlon champ Diego Macias had to carry Yadira Gonzalez, the first Cuban to win an international triathlon, across the finish line to save her sprained ankle.
Clavelo’s team called itself “Buenos Hermanos” to symbolize the solidarity and support of athletes from all countries. The teams bunked together in rustic cabins in the woods near Las Terrazas, and at night music, dancing and hanging out helped foster a unique feeling of togetherness. Dancing is part of any event in Cuba, and one night Clavelo told me, “We can never say ‘no’ to dancing, even after a long day of competition.”
On the final day, teams started off at one-minute intervals in the square in front of the cathedral, with Quirot getting the biggest cheers as she led her team to the stage win — a scene comparable to Michael Jordan leading a race through downtown Chicago.
Each day’s times and finishes were meticulously recorded, albeit with pencil on cardboard, and tabulated. Team Havana, led by four-time national triathlon champ Yacceri Leal, won the Eco-Adventure by a mere nine minutes with a five-stage clocking of 6 hours, 41 minutes. Prizes included running shoes and a variety of athletic gear.
“In Cuba it is not easy to organize an event like this,” said Quirot, whose team finished eighth. “I am happy to have made new friendships and seen some old friends. The race was tough, and I know now I need more time to prepare. I will be waiting for the second edition and the chance to see each new face again.”
No word on whether she will be taking swimming lessons.
Michael Sandrock is an award-winning journalist from Boulder, Colorado, who has visited Cuba 26 times to write about its people, culture, music and sports
