Rotary Club Lanzarote has awarded Kenneth Gasque the "Conejero del Año" (Rabbit of the Year) award. Thus, the well-known sports promoter and event manager at Club La Santa will receive this coming Saturday, June 18, in an institutional event that will take place at the MIAC Castillo de San José, the highest award given annually by the members of the Rotary Club Lanzarote.
Gasque will be the first citizen of foreign origin to be recognized with this award that recognizes his contribution to the progress and development of Lanzarote in different fields. From now on, he will join the group of personalities and institutions that since the creation of this Rotary distinction have the award, a sculpture by the famous Lanzarote artist Paco Curbelo).
Among those awarded by Rotary Club Lanzarote with the "Conejero del Año" (Rabbit of the Year) include, among others, César Manrique, the Hermanos Díaz Rijo, architects of the first seawater desalination plant, the artist Jesús Soto; the ceramist Juan Brito, the hotel executive José Figuereo Vivancos, the businessmen Juan Rosa Perdomo and José Calero, both promoters of the great urban and tourist developments on the Island, the psychiatrist Julio Santiago Obseo, and the societies La Democracia and Torrelavega.
The president of the Rotary Club Lanzarote, Marcial Cabrera Lemes, noted that this distinction for Kenneth Gasque "recognizes the contribution to the international projection of Lanzarote in the field of sports and the promotion of the sporting spirit and healthy living with volunteer work on the island, among other great sporting and humanitarian values. "Gasque has been the driving force behind Ironman Lanzarote, the biggest sporting event that takes place on this island every year."
Parallel to Ironman, Kenneth and Club La Santa have promoted other successful sports initiatives on the island such as the Wine Race and the Ocean Lava.
Ironman Promoter
In the winter of 1982, Kenneth Gasque, of Danish nationality, was hired as head of the sports instructor team at the La Santa Sport complex, now called Club La Santa.
In May 1985, Kennet organized the first triathlon on Spanish soil: the Vulcano Triatlon, and also promoted the mini-triathlon.
In this way, he introduces this modality to the inhabitants and visitors of the island in Lanzarote. In this same year, Keniata went to the Ironman Hawaii, which he finished and participated again in '87 and '89. Very encouraged by the Hawaii test and amazed by the similarities between Hawaii and Lanzarote, he thought that a qualifying competition could be held for the Hawaii Championship on this island.
After learning about the Ironman of Hawaii, which is the country where this test was born, he thought that a qualifying competition could be held for this championship in Lanzarote. Thus, he developed a project that was presented to those responsible for Ironman Hawaii, but after not getting places there, he went to the Roth test, Germany, and got a sub-contract where they gave him 50 and then 60 places to organize an Ironman in Lanzarote.
In the year 91, the sports managers of Lanzarote, at that time, were invited to Hawaii to see the development and greatness of the Hawaiian competition and its effect on tourism and the economy of the island. The next 2012 will commemorate the XX edition of Ironman Lanzarote with the participation of more than 1500 athletes from all over the world.