Friday February 27, 2009

Fitness Festival – Roberto Clemente Coliseum
Runner’s kit pick up
Runner’s Kit Pick-Up
Sports & Health Expo
San Juan Sports Festival

Saturday February 28, 2009

Fitness Festival – Roberto Clemente Coliseum
Runner’s Kit Pick-Up
Sports & Health Expo
Exercises
Special Olympics

Sunday March 1, 2009

Duathlon over the Teodoro Moscoso Bridge
Chalk Drawing Contest
Westernkids Mini Race
Wheelchair Race 
World’s Best 10K

To read more about the event, click here.

Athletes flock from all around the globe every year to compete in one of Puerto Rico’s premiere road races, The World’s Best 10K (WB10K).  This year’s event starts on Friday, February 27, with a Fitness Festival at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum where participants can pick up their runner’s kit, and ends with the main race on Sunday, March 1st.  Now entering its 11th year, the World’s Best 10K has grown from a few thousand participants in 1998 to more than 11,000 finishers during last year’s competition.  The  starting line is located on the Río Piedras side of the Puente Teodoro Moscoso with the rest of the 10-kilometer course winding its way over the bridge - towards Carolina and Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport - and back again through José Barbosa Ave. and the Jesús Piñero Expressway.  For a map of the route, click here.

World-class marathoners - including Olympic gold medalist Dita Constantina-Tomescu, and  6-time defending WB10K champion Lornah Kiplagat - highlight the elite runners competing for the prize.  An exciting finish is expected from both the men’s and women’s divisions as this a certified Gold Label road race by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).  But the event is about much more than an exhilarating, championship-quality competition.  The majority of the inscribed participants are regular folk who enjoy exercise and will jog or walk the route.  Many others use the race as a way to challenge themselves and prove they can establish and meet their goals.  However, you don’t have to compete to participate in the festivities.  The positive, family-friendly atmosphere encourages spectators to join in on the fun by rooting for participants; you will undoubtedly find yourself cheering for complete strangers as they strive to reach the finish line.

Parking is available, for those arriving early, at the University of Puerto Rico’s Río Piedras campus ,where shuttles transport athletes and spectators to the event and back.  Although the main event is scheduled to start at 5:00pm on Sunday, March 1st, several activities are planned throughout the weekend and all along the 10-kilometer route, so be sure to check out the event schedule and official website.

Other links you might be interested in are:

For past winners and race results - click here.
For video streams of the event - click here.
For awards and prizes - click here.

For information about the Festival Claridad, click here. For directions, start

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Thursday, February 26

(from 7:00 pm)

Main Stage / Tarima Claridad

Héctor Giovanni y su Orquesta
Caribe Gitano
Andrés Jiménez
El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico
Plenasón

Second Stage / Tarima Estrella (starts at 4pm)

Graffitti 
7:00 pm to 9:30 pm - Live Transmission Fuego cruzado
Sal de tu duda with Luz Nereida Pérez (Mariana Editores)
Book Reading and Signing: Sexo y cura/Carnada de cangrejo by Rafah Acevedo (Editorial Isla Negra)
Performance: El dragón de la playa by Héctor Iván Monclova (Isla Negra)
Book Reading: Breve estadía en el cuerpo by Iván Figueroa Luciano (Isla Negra)
Presentation and Signing: Ensayos para la terraza by Daniel Nina (Isla Negra).
9:30 pm - Rap (Absoluto independiente, Desde el campo , and others)
10:00 pm - Sábana Negra

Friday, February 27

(from 6:00 pm)

Main Stage / Tarima Claridad

Antonio Cabán Vale, El Topo
Andy Montañez y su Orquesta
Plena Libre
Roy Brown
Sammy García y El Sabor de Puerto Rico

Second Stage / Tarima Estrella (starts at 4pm)

4:45 pm - Live Transmission Fuego cruzado
7:00 pm - Kids Happy hour by Tres Monjitas & visit by the Capitán, the Coop. Zeno Gandía mascot
7:30 pm - Child violinists, Conservatorio de Música de P.R.’s Suzuki Program
8:00 pm - Ojo: fábulas cautivas (fragment), Teatro Rodante de la UPR (Rosa Luisa Márquez)
8:30 pm - Salsa Dance lesson with José Iván Carrasquillo
9:30 pm - Guanajibo (Reggae)

Saturday, February 28

(from 2:00 pm)

Main Stage / Tarima Claridad

Child Trovadores Presentation
Peton Place Blues Criollo with Silverio, Sunshine, and Edwin Colón Zayas
Trovadores Meet-Up
El Espectáculo de Chabela
Orquesta La Exclusiva
Haciendo Punto en Otro Son
Así Somos
Orquesta La Experimental
Fiel a la Vega (Rock)

Second Stage / Tarima Estrella

6:00 pm - Bombaeróbicos (Bomba-aerobics) with Elia Cortés and Taller Tamboricua
7:30 pm - Stage play: ¡Qué tostón! - Jóvenes del 98′
8:00 pm - Alí Tapia, Ivania Zayas y el rumbero Vainilla
9:00 pm - Noche de musarañas

Sunday, March 1

(from 1:00 pm)

Main Stage / Tarima Claridad

Plenazo Claridad
Mapeyé
Plenéalo
Tata Cepeda y Gracimá
Atabal
Tacuafán
Julito Alvarado y del Sur al Norte

Second Stage / Tarima Estrella

12:00 pm - Masks Workshop with Lowell Fiet
2:00 pm - Pau, el defensor de la paz - Jóvenes del 98′
2:30 pm - Book Reading with author Tina Casanova
3:00 pm - Ludmilia - Deborah Hunt
3:30 pm - El girasol - Agua, sol y sereno
4:00 pm - Bomba Workshop with Tata Cepeda and the School of Bomba & Plena
5:00 pm - Historia de arroz con habichuelas - Andanza 
6:00 pm - ¡Che! Kes-ke Ce? (humorous) - Compañía M + M
6:30 pm - Grupo Trabuco y Dulce de coco

For event itinerary, click here.

The 35th edition of the Festival Claridad kicks off this Thursday, February 26, 2009 at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium parking lot in San Juan.  A 4-day celebration of Puerto Rican national identity, the festival is organized every year by local pro-independence newspaper, Claridad, and is to many the first major cultural event on the island after its prolonged (and renowned) holiday season.  This year’s festivities are dedicated to the world’s preeminent salsa group, one of the island’s most beloved musical acts, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico.  The party starts Thursday night with the honored guests taking the main stage to deliver the beloved sounds of their signature salsa gorda.

Needless to say, lots of dancing is expected - so brush up on those dance steps and salsa moves!  (Here are the basic steps to get you started, and some dazzling ones to get you pumped up and in the mood.)  Don’t let those latin rhythms intimidate you - the idea is to have fun, enjoy yourself, and learn some new steps from the more experienced crowd.

The weekend’s musical acts include local favorites like folk singer-songwriter Roy Brown, rock group Fiel a la Vega, salsa legend Andy Montañez, and traditional bomba y plena groups like Plena Libre - all sure to attract big crowds.  A second stage features book readings, theatre troupes, and comedy shows.  Saturday’s  Copa Claridad singing contest pits fellow trovadores or troubadours against one another, in a display of each’s unique style, wit, and compositional skills, as they rhyme verses in the traditional form know as the décima.

The festival is also known for the plethora of kiosks, tarps, and booths that cover the surrounding areas of the Hiram Bithorn Stadium lot, highlighting the work of local artisans and artists who travel from all over Puerto Rico to proudly display and sell their products here.  You can expect to find anything from t-shirts and lithographs, to hand-crafted jewelry and sculptures.  Hand-rolled cigars are also quite popular.  The stadium is conveniently located next to PR-22, and its two main entrances - one through Franklin Roosevelt Ave. in front of the Plaza Las Americas shopping center, the other on Domenech Ave. - are both an exit away from the expressway. (

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The Festival Claridad begins on Thursday, February 26 and runs through Sunday, March 1.  A $5 dollar donation is requested at the gates.

On Saturday, February 21, EyeTour.com participated in the last outdoor screening of the season for Cinema Eventos’s free biweekly movie events in the Parque Nacional Laguna del Condado Jaime Benítez, located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  The night’s screening featured Marcos Carnevale’s Elsa and Fred, a film beloved by many Puerto Ricans and famous for having a successful run at the local theaters that ended after 74 weeks.  EyeTour.com videos of some of Puerto Rico’s public parks were screened for audiences on Cinema Eventos’s giant inflatable projection screen, including videos of Isla de Cabras, Balneario Seven Seas, and Boquerón.

The park proves to be the perfect outdoor setting at dusk, when the skies take on purplish and indigo tones - augmenting a magnificent view of the skyline across the waters of the Condado Lagoon.  The event was sponsored by the Compañía de Parques Nacionales de Puerto Rico, which hosts a variety of events across many of the island’s public parks, beaches, and camping sites.

Cinema Eventos’s outdoor movie screenings - which feature classics, modern classics, family friendly films, as well as some premieres - began late last year and have consistently convinced hundreds of people to come out and enjoy the night outdoors in the company of their neighbors and loved ones.  Popcorn and refreshments are also served for free (although donations are greatly appreciated) - you only need to bring your own chair or picnic blanket!  This first run of screenings has been a great success inspiring many to come out and spend time in our public parks.  We hope to provide EyeTour.com visitors with more information about future screenings soon!