The Monarch Ultra was 4,200km ultra marathon relay run through three countries over 47 days. They ran from the northernmost range of the Monarch Butterfly, in Ontario, Canada, South through the USA, then further into Southern Mexico, the Sierra Madres, where the Monarchs winter each year. The runners followed the basic route of the monarch's annual journey south - to be sure, facing their own obstacles and challenges en route, and meeting with, educating, bringing greater awareness to people along the way. Their goals included raising awareness of the decline of pollinators and to instill hope across three countries.
It was a huge blessing for us that the very last stop in the USA was here, in the Lower Rio Grande Valley on Sunday, October 20th 2019! Our South Texas Border Chapter TMN hosted the Monarch Ultra Team that evening at the St. George's Orthodox Church Hall.
Local organizations, agencies, etc. who play some part in the work of creating, maintaining, preserving monarch habitat, planting new pollinator gardens, educating the public, working with the area's schools and local municipalities were present to share information with the public, as we meet and greet the Monarch Ultra runners and team. The director of the Monarch Ultra spoke about the journey thus far. And we had some other speakers sharing about local efforts regarding monarch efforts.
Check out their Review of the Journey. You can see some photos from their welcome at the final stop in Mexico on their Facebook page. And a teaser trailer of their documentary by Rodney Fuentes can be viewed on Vimeo.
These are some of the area organizations and nature sites which had educational tables at our Monarch Ultra Welcoming Event:
Monarch Ultra Event Tables/Educational Booths Quinta Mazatlan National Wildlife Federation – Materials Only USFWS – Urban Forestry – Monarch Project National Butterfly Center Edinburg Wetlands World Birding Center McAllen Nature Center Milkweed & Monarch Organization PSJA Habitat Garden Program Deep South Texas Master Gardeners South Texas Border Chapter, Texas Master Naturalist Rio Grande Valley Chapter, Texas Master Naturalist Hugh Ramsey Nature Park & LGV Native Plant Project Stellar Bakery – Homemade Butterfly Cookies Pharr Parks & Recreation – Hydration Station St. George Orthodox Church – International Festival Pollinator Garden Site - Garden Tours
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