Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:37 AM
Mar 10, 2012 Sports
Great men are defined as those that transform small insignificant feats
into gigantic, meaningful accomplishments thus rewriting the history books. Life is replete with such individuals but unfortunately, their feats are inadvertently relegated to the back burner and oft times rendered insignificant.
José Luis Macías can snugly fit into this category as he blazes the trail towards athletics accomplishment. He is a 59 years old Mexican athlete, currently on a mission to eclipse the ‘Constancy and Resistance’ world record which entails the compilation of a world record.
The Spanish national is 59 years old and commenced his quest for international acclaim on May 1, 1989 when he ventured outside the realms of national accomplishments in his home country where he had held the national record as a marathon runner. He then entered an event that incorporated the participation of marathon athletes worldwide.
The challenges are immense as all participants are committed to a distance of at least 10K daily. The athletes must defy the vicissitudes including adverse weather conditions or otherwise and complete a certain amount of miles every day.
That amount is added to the previous tally. Macías currently holds the local record in his hometown and is aspiring for the world record. To date, he has competed in several countries in an effort to accumulate the requisite mileage. Some of these countries include Argentina, Columbia, Brazil, Chile and Ecuador. To date, he has accumulated more than 94,000 kilometers.
Tomorrow morning, the Mexican will add another 20K to his tally as he aims for the world record when the Embassy of Mexico in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports presents the Mexico/Guyana 20K road race. The event commences at Good Hope, ECD and culminates at the Mexican Embassy, 44 Brickdam Georgetown. Apart from enabling the Mexican to edge closer to a specific target, the race has been dubbed as worthwhile activity for health and fitness conscious individuals and is also open to local athletes and other interested persons.
Yesterday morning, Macías joined the organizers at a press conference at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) to brief the media of particulars of the event. Those in attendance included Designated Ambassador of Mexican to Guyana, Francisco Olguiu, his Cultural Affairs officer, Nayeli Ceceòa, Director of Youth and Sports, Neil Kumar, President of the Athletic Association of Guyana (AAG), Colin Boyce and Administrative Officer, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, Gervy C Harry.
Mr. Kumar extended a warm welcome to the Mexican athlete and wished him well in his endeavours. The Sports Director said that tomorrow’s event would serve as the reinstatement of marathon events when athletes the likes of Henry Powell and other stalwarts ruled the roost. He also encouraged local athletics administrators to work towards the reinstatement of this genre of event on the local athletic calendar.
Colin Boyce feels that the reintroduction of marathon events augurs well for local aspirants. He pointed out other countries in the Caribbean and further afield are hosting marathon events. “I trust that following the successful staging of this event such activities will form an integral part of the local sports calendar,” concluded Mr. Boyce.
Señor Olguiu also urged Guyanese to participate in the event. A former athlete, he has committed to jog a small part of the journey in solidarity with his countryman.
Meanwhile, organizers are a bit peeved at the poor response to date. However, they are optimistic that the number of registrants would increase by the start of the event. Some of the participants will receive prizes including those in the open male and female category and those in lower categories.
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