Cross country marathon takes over the Pumalal Park of CMPC’s Living Forest Network in Chile

The event will bring together about 200 athletes with their families in the park located in the Araucanía Region of south-central Chile. The competition will be held on September 3 with about 100 spots still available.

There are already more than 100 participants signed up with a goal of 200. On September 3 the Pumalal Park in Temuco (located in the La Araucanía Region of south-central Chile) part of CMPC’s Living Forest Network will host athletes of all ages as they participate in the XCM marathon rally -Cross Country Marathon- in Mountainbike, a race organized for medium- and high-intensity participants by the Vida en Movimiento [Life in Motion] Foundation, together with the support of CMPC. The competition consists of a single lap of 33.5 kilometers along the path that includes a pass through the Mirador de los Volcanes -one of the main attractions of the park- and other points with inspiring views.

Ivonne Risco will be participating. She’s 18 year old and a national XCM champion. The athlete has said that the fact that the race is in Pumalal gives it a different feel. “It’s an excellent park. I like it a lot. It’s the hill closest to me and it extends to great heights. I run the circuit up to three times whenever I go. It’s quite entertaining. Its descent is great for practicing the technical part that all races have,” she said.

There will be two categories for participating in the event. One is for people over 15 years of age and the other is for kids, which includes a two-kilometer circuit for children five years old and above. The event will feature activities for the whole family in a base camp where the organization has several surprises prepared.  Registration, timetables and all additional information is available on the WELCU platform:https://welcu.com/fundacion-vida-en-movimiento/xcm-bosque-vivo-pumalal?utm_source=search

CMPC is excited about this event. CMPC Public Relations Deputy Manager for the Southern Territories Juan Pablo Fuentes, said that it’s very important to the company that athletes, families and neighbors use the park. “This amazing event demonstrates how we’ve opened up the parks to the community, where all the ecosystem services, hiking paths, the pump tracks and all the amenities that the facilities have to offer are made available to the community so that more people in Temuco can use the Living Forest network,” he stated.

Vida en Movimiento [Life in Motion] – a  foundation that works to improve people’s quality of life by fighting against obesity and cardio-metabolic diseases – ensures that contact with nature during initiatives like this provides people with multiple benefits. Foundation President Álvaro Ponce said, “Beyond the good sports vibes that all these events produce, there is also an energetic issue in terms of contact with the earth that is really important (…) Being in these environments, having contact with trees and putting your feet on the ground brings us not just physical health benefits, but emotional ones, too.”

The deputy regional director of the National Sports Institute of Chile Rolando Parra, athletes, community leaders, athletes, the Life in Motion Foundation representatives and CMPC all attended the launch ceremony for the event.

Living Forest for people

CMPC inaugurated its Living Forest network of parks in south-central Chile this year with the aim of bringing the forestry sector closer to the community and opening spaces for visitors to appreciate how native forests interact with productive plantations, to publicize the relevance of conservation and restoration along with enabling spaces for sports, recreation and contact with nature.

The initiative seeks to offer the community spaces for education, tourism, gatherings, culture and sports in tune with the environment. The company is currently implementing three new facilities into the network: Pumalal Park in Temuco, Junquillar Park in Angol and Lastarria Park in Loncoche, all located in the Araucanía Region. To get more details of the Living Forest, go to  www.bosquevivocmpc.com.