London 2012: Running the town in Guatemala
On 1 September the British Embassy Guatemala City jointly with the Guatemalan Olympic Committee
Olympic Legacy Event Guatemala
We have had a really sporting time in the Embassy of late. See our Facebook page for the 7s rugby tournament. But regular readers will know we organised a race to celebrate one year since London 2012.
On 1 September the British Embassy Guatemala City jointly with the Guatemalan Olympic Committee and our sponsors Cementos Progreso, BUPA, Mini and the Guatemalan Sports Federation (CDAG) organised a 5K race around the city. It was our first experience promoting and organising such type of sports event so we were a little nervous.
We started setting up at 5am on a Sunday morning! Beside that itself being a challenge as it was still dark, we were very enthusiastic about the interest it had captured with our contacts and friends and how participants, that usually do not run (including the Ambassador), started to train for the run several weeks in advance.
Around 6am we opened our registration spot and it was impressive to see runners with their families starting to arrive and warm up. Before the run, we had a Zumba lesson which set the right atmosphere of fun and exercise. At 8am 680 runners lined up to start the 5K run. All excited and motivated by the presence of Erick Barrondo who won the first Olympic Medal for Guatemala in London 2012! We saw that small children, young people, adults, and families were enthusiastic to be participating in the run. The fastest runners in each category won a London 2012 baton and a photo with their Olympic hero. Congratulations to them all. The inscription fees meant that we could give over 20,000 Quetzales (around £1,650) to help under privileged athletes reach their potential.
Many thanks to all the sponsors who helped us with this event. We have been already asked to repeat the race next year, so those of you who do not run, you better start training!