Record of entries in Desafío Doñana

Fernández underlines the consolidation of 'Desafío Doñana' as a sporting event, with a new record of 2015 entries

The Minister of Tourism and Sports presented the sixth edition ofl Doñana Challenge, which will start the next September 19 in Sanlúcar de Barrameda

The Minister of Tourism and Sports, Francisco Javier Fernández, highlighted today the consolidation of the 'Desafío Doñana' as one of the most attractive competitions in the community and announced that the appointment of 2015 will mean a new record of participation, with an 30% more registered so far with respect to the previous year. In this sense, the number of registered athletes already amounts to almost 300 and it is expected to reach the 450.

The counselor presented in Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Cádiz) the sixth edition of this test to be held next September 19 and, as he stressed, is an important tourist-sports event of special nature because it links the provinces of Cadiz and Huelva, develops in a unique and exclusive environment and disseminates both the image of Andalusia as a destination and its capacity for organization.

Thus, the 'Desafío Doñana' is a resistance race composed of three sports disciplines: cycling, swimming and running. It is a unique test within the sector's offer, and its uniqueness is determined by the different order and distances of the disciplines with respect to other triathlon competitions, and by a route that runs through places such as the mouth of the Guadalquivir River and the National Park of Doñana.

The race will be played individually, both in women and men, and in women's, men's and mixed relay teams. In it, a wide variety of athletes participate, because, as detailed by the counselor, besides being ideal for long distance triathletes is also designed and oriented for cyclists, runners and marathoners, swimmers or duathletes.

Francisco Javier Fernandez also stressed that the appointment is an example of institutional cooperation and "sum of wills", since it is organized by the Ministry along with technical support from the Andalusian Triathlon Federation, and the collaboration of municipalities of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Jerez de la Frontera, Rota, Chipiona, El Puerto de Santa María and the Doñana Natural Area.

Demanding tour

The start of the test will take place at Bajo de Guía beach in Sanlúcar. During the neutralized start, the cyclist peloton will roll for several kilometers through the town that houses the mouth of the Guadalquivir. From this point, the official start of the 90 kilometers race will be made by bicycle through Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Jerez, El Puerto, Rota, Chipiona and Sanlúcar de Barrameda again.

Once the bicycle section is finished, the participants will have to swim a kilometer -2,8 kilometers for the relay teams- crossing the Guadalquivir river at its mouth to Punta de Malandar. The last section will begin there, which will consist of a foot race to be carried out entirely through Doñana, in a route of 15 kilometers one way and as many back.

MiniDesafío Doñana

The Doñana Challenge will have another year with an activity parallel to the absolute test and will serve as a triathlon promotion, the MiniDesafío, which will be developed on the seafront and Bajo de Guía beach, and in which 200 children and girls between 7 and 17 years. The modality that will be disputed will be an aquathlon with categories of age groups and affordable distances to spread this discipline.

The foot race will be held in Bajo de Guía, and the swimming in the waters of the beach itself. The distances will vary according to the age of the participants: there will be several exits per category, from 125 meters of running, 50 meters of swimming and 125 meters of running of the Pre-Benjamin (7 to 8 years), up to 1.000 meters, 400 meters and 1.000 meters of the Cadets (15-17 years).