The facilities of Bodegas Rubicón, located in the natural space of La Geria, hosted this Wednesday morning, International Environment Day, the presentation of the expected twelfth edition of the Lanzarote Wine Run.
Thus returns this popular event promoted by the Island Council, which has the wine and winery sector as protagonists and which values the peculiar and genuine Lanzarote landscape of La Geria. The well-known Wine Race will return on June 15 and 16, after a break since 2020.
The president of the Lanzarote Island Council, Oswaldo Betancort, presented the race accompanied by the island councilor for Landscape and Food Sovereignty, Samuel Martín; the mayor of Yaiza, Óscar Noda; the president of the Regulatory Council of the DOP Vinos de Lanzarote, Jorge Rodríguez; and the director of the Canary Islands Institute of Food Quality (ICCA), Luis Arráez. Note that the head of the Art, Culture and Tourism Centers, Ángel Vázquez, could not be present at this event where prominent public officials - including the island councilor for Sports, Juan Monzón - and members of the island's wine sector did attend.
"What works must be promoted, not stopped," said Oswaldo Betancort, congratulating his colleagues in the Island Council Government, who have worked to resume the Wine Run introducing "a new way of doing things." The Lanzarote president also thanked the collaboration of entities such as the Regulatory Council or the Yaiza City Council, and highlighted the work of the Landscape Area to deploy this renewed test. "We will not stay in the improvements that have been introduced in this 12th edition, we want future Wine Races to be promoted from the root of that new development model that we defend. We are a model to follow, also for the organization of events like this," he added.
The president spoke of the "awareness-raising" potential of events like this and insisted on the need to have responsibility to care for an ecosystem with such high "heritage value." Betancort also stressed the solidarity nature of the race, as well as the unprecedented presence of the Diver - diversity - seal in the popular activities that the Institution now organizes: "It is becoming a reference in the world, and I congratulate the third sector because this is a collective work that sends many messages of integration to society."
A "spectacular reception"
Samuel Martín highlighted the "spectacular reception" of this edition: "Runners from more than thirty countries have confirmed participation," said the councilor, recalling that registrations are open until June 9.
The councilor highlighted the work they do through conservation projects such as "Save La Geria" or "Save La Corona", where nearly fifty people work. And he also highlighted the figure of the camel, which has its prominence in the race. "The Wine Run has had a surprising reception among citizens. We are talking about a unique event that combines gastronomy, sports, landscape and nature," said Martín in a speech in which he also explained some keys about the celebration of the Wine Festival that weekend in Uga.
In addition, after the usual thanks, the president of the Regulatory Council of the DOP Vinos de Lanzarote, Jorge Rodríguez, highlighted the promotion of the "wine culture" and spoke of the satisfactory recovery of vineyards that is currently taking place in Lanzarote, also congratulating the organizers for the "maturity" achieved with this Wine Run 2024.
The director of the ICCA, Luis Arráez, stated that "from the Government of the Canary Islands they did not hesitate to open this collaboration with the test, and we seek that in future editions it will be increasingly greater. We will do it mainly through the promotion of wine tourism, with the Chair of Wine Tourism of the ULL - which will have a stand at the Wine Festival - and which is financed by the ICCA."
Finally, the mayor of Yaiza, Óscar Noda, thanked the president of the Island Council for having recovered this test and referred to the necessary inter-administrative collaboration to improve the health of the primary sector. "From the City Council we have put everything on our part to make it go well and we encourage the people of Lanzarote and visitors to enjoy Uga and the natural space of La Geria," said Noda.
The keys of the Lanzarote Wine Run 2024
Registrations for this 12th edition, whose motto is Discover, Enjoy, Respect, are still open until June 9. According to the organization, so far there are about 1,500 participants registered among the different categories.
The race takes place in three different modalities. On the one hand, there is the 23-kilometer race (long race that starts from Bodega La Florida); then a short 13 km race (starts from Finca Testeina); and finally, the category for those participants, the majority, who prefer to do the route in the form of a walk, of 13 km, whose registrations are sold out.
Participation includes the official t-shirt of the edition, medals for all those who finish the route, prizes and trophies for the absolute winners, tickets for the Wine Festival, transportation from Uga to the start of the race, as well as health care, refreshments, accident insurance, gifts from the various sponsors, and even the contribution that each runner makes to the Save La Geria project. As in previous editions, the prize for the absolute male and female winners of the long race will be their weight in liters of D.O. Lanzarote wine.
With its own name
During the presentation, President Oswaldo Betancort made a special mention to Carlos Hernández and Aroa Merino, outstanding Lanzarote athletes, also present in La Geria, who have contributed with their active participation to the dissemination of the environmental values that the test treasures.
In addition, the organization has given in the act a special recognition to several of the people who have helped in a prominent way to the promotion of the Lanzarote Wine Race. They were pioneers of the Wine Run. Thus, an gift has been given to Kenneth Gasque (which was collected by a family member), veteran sports promoter linked to the Island and who years ago devised the Wine Race. Likewise, the owner of Finca Vega Costa and restorer, Antonio Morales, as well as Germán López Figueras, host today and who in 1979 launched what we currently know as Bodegas Rubicón, received a testimonial gift. "All of them have contributed to promote the Lanzarote Wine Run in its first editions," said Oswaldo Betancort at a moment of the presentation.
The novel Diver seal
As the island president referred to in his statements, this 2024 edition will serve for the Area of Social Welfare of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, directed by the councilor Marci Acuña, to develop its "Diver" Seal project for the test, implementing a series of characteristics that guarantee that the Wine Run 2024 is an inclusive event for all audiences.
"This badge considers the adaptations of space and methodologies necessary so that any person with functional diversity can fully participate in the event. And, in this way, it ensures that all people, regardless of their abilities, can enjoy and benefit from the activity in equal conditions," explained Acuña.
Security plan and schedules
The Island Corporation has designed the mandatory Security Plan of the test with the main objective of providing for the Civil Protection operations and attention to possible emergencies. During the sports stages, a hospital will be installed in the facilities of Uga, as well as a health care tent next to Meta where the participants will be received.
There will be a Violet Point and an Orange Point. And as for the parking lots to intervene in the Wine Run, three spaces will be enabled for the parking of private vehicles of the attendees.
Saturday, June 15
15:00h. Opening of the collection of bib numbers of the Wine Run KIDS 2024.
17:00h. Opening of the collection of bib numbers of the Wine Run 2024.
17:00h. Beginning of the different tests of the Wine Run KIDS 2024.
18:00h. Opening of the Wine Festival.
21:00h. Concert.
21:30h. Closing of bib number collection.
23:00h. Closing of the Wine Festival and all activities.
Sunday, June 16
07:30h. Transfer of participants in buses.
09:00h. Departure of the Long Race. 10:00h. Departure of the Short Race.
10:00h. Departure of Hiking.
10:15h. Arrival of the first participants.
11:00h. Opening of the Wine Festival.
12:30h. Awards Ceremony.
14:00h. Concert.
15:00h. Closing of Meta.
16:00h. Closing of the Event.