Discover Paradise at the 11th Annual End of the World Marathon

2022 is your chance to join the eleventh annual celebration of the End of the World Marathon. While the Maya calendar suggested that the apocalypse might happen on December 21, 2012, runners from around the world continue to participate in a marathon and half marathon through the streets of Placencia. For the people of Belize, it’s another way to celebrate their connection to the Maya Empire and a way to do good in the community.

Running For a Greater Good

There’s some irony in the fact that the End of the World Marathon is actually about building a better world. More specifically, all the proceeds raised at the End of the World marathon go to education in Belize. This is especially crucial because education beyond eighth grade requires tuition, making it prohibitive for many poorer families to get the education they need. Proceeds are specifically donated to dozens of high school, university, and vocational trade school scholarships offered to economically disadvantaged Belizean youth.

A Lot More to Do Than Just Run

If the idea of running a marathon sounds exhausting to you, there’s a whole lot of fun to be had anyway. That’s because the people love a good festival, and the End of the World Marathon is as good an excuse as any. While the runners train hard for the marathon, others work hard putting together costumes, stages, and events to keep things rolling throughout the day. And if you’re looking to slake your thirst, you’ll find plenty of food and drink along the marathon route.

And the Perfect Opportunity to Visit

Ultimately, you shouldn’t need an excuse to visit Placencia — but it would be a shame to come all the way down for a marathon and not see what else there is around the village. The peninsula of Placencia is unique in its own right thanks to the fact that it’s 20 miles long but only a half-mile wide. That means you’ll have plenty of opportunities to kick back on the beach after the run — but Placencia also puts you close to the Belize Barrier Reef, ancient Maya ruins, the Cockscomb Wildlife Jaguar Sanctuary, and the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave.

Find the Right Place to Stay

All of Placencia is gorgeous, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be selective about where you stay. If you’re in town to run in the marathon, cheer on a loved one, or merely spectate, Chabil Mar offers world-class amenities while also being directly along the marathon route.

Visit our website chabilmarvillas.com for more information on Belize, and don’t hesitate to send us an email, or call US/CAN Toll Free: 1-866-417-2377, Local: (011-501) 523-3606, if you have questions or need help in planning a Belize vacation.

Dеvаnѕhі Каѕаnа, a Ph.D. candidate with Florida International University, and her colleagues have recently had a freak encounter with a Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) in the middle of the Belize Barrier Reef. Notably, this is the first time that anyone has encountered a Greenland shark within the Western Caribbean.

The creature’s body length was somewhere between 10 to 11 feet long and it was specifically discovered within Glover’s Reef Marine Reserve. This particular species belongs to the “sleeper” family of sharks, a family commonly encountered within the chilly depths of the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans, and is a bulky creature with a round snout, undersized fins, and a grayish-brown coloring. The Greenland shark is believed to be the oldest living vertebrate in recorded science, known to live in excess of 400 years, and primary feasts on prey like polar bear carcasses. Kasana’s party encountered the Greenland shark while working with local fishermen to tag tiger sharks.

The circumstances of this discovery involved a lengthy nocturnal fishing session that saw the weather worsen as the sun began to rise. During one final check on their equipment, one of the lines revealed a sluggish-moving non-tiger shark. Some compared the discovery to something akin to an animate, long smooth stone. After analyzing the sea creature’s other characteristics, the collective narrowed things down and surmised it to be a sleeper shark of some variety. Upon considering the shark’s specific characteristics, consensus hovered around the beast being either a genuine Greenland shark or a hybrid between Greenland and a Pacific sleeper shark (Somniosus pacificus).

The waters where the shark was discovered get quite deep, plummeting to a range as deep as 9,500 feet, making it cold enough for a Greenland shark to endure. Chapman has been leading shark tracking projections within Glover’s Reef for nearly 20 years and his data has been shared with a collaborative effort with the Belizean government, shark fishers, scientists, and other relevant groups; their efforts have helped to improve protections and prohibitions related to shark fishing within two miles of any Belizean atoll.

If you would like your own chance to discover just how wild and varied the world’s marine life can be, consider coming to Belize. Chabil Mar is one of the leading resorts in the country, especially as it offers tours of the Belize Barrier Reef, the penultimate largest barrier reef on the planet.

Visit Chabilmarvillas.com for more information on Belize, and don’t hesitate to send us an email, or call US/CAN Toll-Free: 1-866-417-2377, Local: (011-501) 523-3606, if you have questions or need help in planning a Belize vacation.