2nd West Mani Sports Festival
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Another great day!
June 20th saw a repeat of last year’s resurrection of the Stoupa Sports day and once again it was a superb community event, based around swimming and running competitions. Stoupa sea front was packed. Packed with participants of all ages (some local, some not), onlookers, organisers, first aiders and volunteers. A couple of PA systems pumped out high energy music along with a running commentary, keeping everyone informed about timings and who was coming in first to win each event. And a team from the organisers recorded the timings of each participant and handed out medals to commemorate their involvement. A nice addition for kids this year was a bouncy slide and a tent for face painting. The schedule mirrored last year with one exception- it all happened again the next morning with a combined race, the Aquathlon.
Swimming: 500m, 1km & 2km
These races started at 6pm when it was still pretty hot but I guess once in that beautiful sea, the swimmers didn’t care! It looked like a shoal of frenzied, big fish had swum into the bay and a number of boats, kayaks and scuba divers were on hand to keep an eye on the well being of the shoal.
Once everyone had completed the course, the inflatable start/finishing line arch had to be deflated and move up to the road to perform the same role for the running events.
Kids race: 1km
The beginning of this race caused a bit of confusion. Initially, the young, eager runners, some with parents by their side, were facing the wrong way on the starting line. Getting them all turned round took some explaining. Their route was to head up to the Lektron Hotel, turn right, head past the school, drop down to Akrogiali and then run like hell along the sea front to the finishing line by Anna’s gift shop. The last one in had a huge smile of satisfaction on his face!
Adults race: 5.4km, 10.8km
The route for the adults from the same starting line was basically along the cycle path to Agios Nikolaos. Those doing the 5k only turned back at the Ventum club, where the local samba drumming group, Kimvala, were placed to give a rhythmic support to those who might be flagging a bit (it was still quite warm at 7.30pm). The ensemble then had to jump in various vehicles to relocate to outside the 5 Brothers to spur on those now very close to the finish line. All onlookers gave support too with constant yells of “Bravo Stavro” and rounds of applause. The winner was a very fit, youngish lad but runners of all ages and level of fitness made it across the finish line.
So once again, huge congratulations to everyone involved and all proceeds raised went to GAIA.
If you’d like to watch a video of last year’s event, click HERE.
How did it compare to last year? Leave a comment!
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