La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge

Richard Harrison conceived this four-day, roughly 180-mile canoe marathon in 1998 to promote a bottled water brand, and the race that debuted that March has grown into what many call Belize's biggest sporting event. Teams paddle from San Ignacio's Hawkesworth Bridge down the Macal and Belize Rivers to Belize City's Belcan Bridge, camping riverside each night, timed each year to the Baron Bliss Day weekend. Beer brand Belikin has long sponsored the event, and thousands gather for the Belize City finish.

Richard Harrison conceived this four-day canoe marathon in 1998 as a way to promote a new brand of bottled water, and the race that debuted on March 9 of that year has since grown into what many consider Belize's biggest sporting event, run each year on the weekend tied to Baron Bliss Day.