The first day of the Great Desert Race began in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora. The participants, of more than 10 nationalities, will travel the trails of the Altar desert in the Trail Run modality.
The place was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013, and is also the home of the Tohono Oódham.
“The Great Desert of Altar, has an extension of 715,000 hectares and has the particularity of exceptional beauty, because it combines the beauties of the desert with the coastline of the Sea of Cortez, deservedly called, aquarium of the world” commented the governor of the state of Sonora Alfonso Durazo about the place where the race will take place.
In addition to encouraging sports, it seeks to be a new innovative strategy to attract tourism not only in the state, but also in the rest of the country, according to Miguel Torruco, Secretary of Tourism, since it is of the utmost importance to create new products that impact the consumer with events that last and above all that are attractive.
The government of the state of Sonora and Grupo Expansión seek to create a sporting event that allows showing the beauty and particularity of this desert, so this race will also feature a mini documentary series where the physical and mental challenge of the race will be revealed. career, as well as showing in detail the history of the Tohono O’odham.
What does the race consist of?
This sports experience has four different modalities for participants to test their resistance according to their abilities:
- Ultra Trail 75k: consists of traveling 75 kilometers in two days. On the first day they will be traveling 50 kilometers and on the second day 25 kilometers, with a night camping on the beach by the sea.
- Desert Run 50K: on the first day the contestants will travel 25 kilometers and 25 on the second day, with the modality of having two days to be on the beach.
- Beach & Desert Run 25k: it is a one-day race where the participants will travel 25 kilometers
- Beach Fun Run: in one day the participants will travel 10 kilometers.
