APAMO Extends Registration for Conserve-athon in Dangriga

Those wishing to participate in the upcoming “Conserve-athon” being hosted by the Association of Protected Areas Management Organizations (APAMO) now have an additional day to register. The Conserve-athon is a 13.5-mile race being held on Sunday, October 5, in Dangriga as one of the activities highlighting APAMO’s anniversary. APAMO has extended the registration date to the end of the business day tomorrow, Thursday, September 25. The race is aimed at raising awareness of conservation and environmental issues. Alissa Roches, Program Director for APAMO, said that the race is part of a larger initiative being done in collaboration with the Protected Areas Conservation Trust (PACT). 

Alissa Roches, Program Director, APAMO: “For us the event is more than just a race, it is more than just running, it is an opportunity to raise awareness about conservation, about protected areas management, about protecting our resources and it is also an opportunity to raise awareness about health, wellness and community involvement. The term Conservaton we had a lot of fun deciding on a name for our annual anniversary event and so we wanted something that would of course mention, or at least speak to conservation, and so we toyed with different concepts and we settled on a race but we didn’t want it to just be another marathon and so eventually we combined the two terms which is conservation and a marathon, and then we came about with Conservaton, and why we decided on a race in the first place is because of the similarity with the two concepts. For us, conservation, like a run, it requires commitment, it requires endurance, and sometimes teamwork, and conservation it requires the same thing most of the time. Additionally, like a race, a race often times promotes health and wellness for individuals, whereas conservation it promotes health and wellness but for the environment. So that was basically how we tied the two concepts together and came about with the word Conservaton.”

The race will start at the Puma Gas Station at 5:30 a.m. and end at the Mayflower Bocawina National Park in Silk Grass Village.