Lake Atitlán challenge Marathon, Guatemala 2012

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Lake Atitlan The Lake Atitlán Marathon is a sports and culture event held in May in the Western Highlands of Guatemala, the “Land of the Living Maya”. Lake Atitlán was judged by Aldous Huxley (Brave New World) as the world’s most beautiful lake. It is a volcanic caldera and the deepest lake in Central America. It is home to many vibrant, traditional Mayan cultures.

The first marathon has been scheduled to coincide with the end of the Mayan Long Count Calendar – an occurrence of rare historic and cultural significance. There are many interpretations of this happening to include predictions of the end of the world. We have adopted another happier view – that it is a time of major change and we have organized this event to present an assortment of rewarding challenges for participants.

Marathon route through Santa Catarina Palopo
Marathon runners
Running through Santa Catarina Palopo
Returning from San Antonio/Santa Catarina to Panajachel.
Lake Atitlan with a view of Panajachel down below.
Both marathon and half marathon pass through Santa Catarina Palopo.
On route, passing the church in Santa Catarina Palopo.
The lakeshore at San Antonio Palopo, both marathons pass through here.
The lakeshore at San Antonio Palopo, both marathons pass through here.
The lakeshore at San Antonio Palopo, with a view of Cerro de Oro (Santiago Atitlan)
Guatemala has a very friendly indigenous population
Lake Atitlan
Mayan Ceremony in Santiago Atitlan
Mayan Ceremony at the Church
The boulevard in Panajachel
Most villages around the lake have a beautiful colonial church to visit (San Pedro la Laguna).
The boulevard in Panajachel
Santiago Atitlan, central park, Santiago not on the marathon route.
The boulevard in Panajachel
Mayan woman from Santa Catarina selling merchandise.

The Atitlan Marathon 2012 event is organized around a 42 km run which we rate as “extreme” because of steep slope in places and a 21 km run which is also challenging but less demanding. The half marathon is held on May 26th and the marathon on May 27th, 2012.

Atitlan is a volcanic caldera, forming a bowl, with a mile-high lakeside elevation. It is surrounded by steep slopes and volcanoes. There is relatively little flat terrain in the Lake basin. Thus, the long runs of this event are especially challenging due to the rugged terrain and altitude. The inspirations to meet this challenge are the incomparable beauty of the environment and year-round, Spring-like weather of the region. If you are an ULTRA-RUNNER and would consider accepting the challenge, you can register and run the half-marathon on Saturday and the full marathon on Sunday. We will award a certificate to all who complete this challenge. Further, we will combine the two times and give special recognition to the three male and female runners with the best composite times.This is a non-profit, fundraising event. Proceeds will go toward targeted environmental projects to protect the Lake from existing contamination threats.

There will also be cultural and other sporting activities held over the 5-day period in a variety of locations in the lake basin. Lake Atitlán supports 12 individually unique lakeside communities. The majority of the activities will be conducted from Panajachel which is the major tourist community of this world-class lake. It hosts a complete tourist infrastructure to include hotels, banks, ATM’s, internet cafes, restaurants and nightlife. Most of the other communities also have hotels and tourist services.

In addition to scheduled sporting and cultural activities, local businesses offer other attractions (e.g., paragliding, trail hiking, SCUBA diving) and local travel agencies offer regional and national tours.

For those making the trip from abroad, this is a great opportunity to experience internationally known sites like Antigua and Tikal while here.