São Paulo – The 5th Coffee Race and Trek will take place in virtual fashion this year due to the pandemic. In order to enter the event traditionally held at Fazenda Santa Elisa, a farm in Campinas, São Paulo, you simply need to register on the website and share information from a race previously agreed upon with the organizers. Since participants will race under different weather and terrains, there will be no finishing order, and all racers will get a participation medal. A supporter of the event, the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) will be honored on occasion of its 68th anniversary.
“The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce has been our supporter since 1981, so it is really important to have it for the 5th Coffee Race and Trek – Special Virtual Edition. Professor Rubens Hannun was generous enough to make a video, and it is has been really encouraging to us,” the race’s creator and Jerusalem Institute in Brazil superintendent Ali El-Khatib told ANBA regarding a video created by the ABCC’s president especially for the race organizers. Pictured above are El-Khatib and the race’s godmother Conceição Geremias.
“Unicamp (the State University of Campinas), by way of its School of Physical Education, the Campinas Institute of Agronomy, our track and field teams and other supporters have given us a great jolt of energy going into this challenge,” says El-Khatib, who’s also a coffee connoisseur. “The energy from this experience is spreading to our supporters. Mr. Marcos Machado, the director-general of the Campinas Institute of Agronomy, has suggested that not only should the sixth edition of the race return to the farm, but that we also have a kids’ coffee race as well as the virtual one. Already we are seeing good results,” said El-Khatib.
To enter the virtual race, athletes must record the date, duration and length of a race of their choosing using an app or a watch. They will be required to upload a screenshot of their device with good resolution by 11 pm on November 12. Registration costs from BRL 69 to BRL 79 and include a kit with a T-shirt, the medal, and gifts from the race’s sponsors.
“The fifth race will enable a broader range of participants to join. By 2021, when the race will take place at Fazenda Santa Elisa again, that’s when we will reunite will all our friends, supporters, their families and the media. It will be a great celebration,” says El-Khatib. The 64-year-old Olympic athlete and heptathlon champion Conceição Geremias, who was born at Fazenda Santa Elisa, will be the event’s godmother. “I am moved by Ali’s invitation to be the race’s godmother,” she says.
Quick facts
5th Coffee Race and Trek
Registration: BRL 69-BRL 79
Up until 11 pm on November 12, 2020
Race lengths: 3 km, 5 km, 7 km, 10 km, 15 km, and 21 km
Find out more and register: www.nexrace.com.br
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
