Monarch UltraSunday October 20, 2019
5:00 PM
A one-of-a-kind event is happening October 20, for monarch butterflies and monarch lovers alike -- a team of Monarch Ultra runners, joined by Harlingen cardiologist and avid marathon and triathlon participant, Dr. Charles Mild, will jog into Pharr, arriving at St. George Orthodox Church at 704 West Sam Houston at 5:30 p.m.
Other local runners joining Mild for the last leg of the day’s run will be Jose Uribe, from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and high school science teacher and Texas Master Naturalist Angel Guzman.
The Monarch Ultra runners and support team will then join an educational fair in the church parking lot. The fair is open to the public beginning at 5 p.m. A hearty lineup of local organizations will set up booths at the fair.
Sponsored by South Texas Border Chapter of Texas Master Naturalist, organizations that will be represented are U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Urban Ranger program from Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge in Alamo; the two Valley Texas Master Naturalist Chapters, South Texas Border Chapter and Rio Grande Valley Chapter; Deep South Texas Master Gardeners program of Hidalgo County; and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.
Also providing informational booths will be the National Butterfly Center in Mission; Edinburg Wetland World Birding Center; San Juan, Alamo (PSJA) School System's Pollinator Garden Program plus students from various disciplines including music, runners, and science; Hugh Ramsey Nature Park of Harlingen; the local Milkweed and Monarch Organization; Quinta Mazatlán in McAllen; and the National Wildlife Federation.
The family-friendly event is open to the public and free of charge.
The main Monarch Ultra runner of the day will be Clay Williams. Monarch Ultra is the first attempt to run across North America (Canada, United States and Mexico) in order to raise awareness of monarch butterflies who make the migratory journey every year.
Pharr is the last stop the team will make before heading across the border to Mexico. The Monarch Ultra started in Peterborough, Ontario, and will end in the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico, with runners following the same migration route as monarch butterflies.
Fifty to 70 ultra-runners will each run a leg of 50 or 100 kilometers of the 47-day adventure through a diversity of landscapes including mountain paths, forests, meadows, deserts, and cities.
This fall, a team of film-makers, runners, and pollinator advocates will be telling the story of the flight of the monarch butterfly as seen through the eyes of Ultra runners who will run the same distance of 2,671 miles from southern Ontario to central Mexico. More about the Monarch Ultra team is available at http://www.themonarchultra.com/about-us.html.
The public also is invited to a 7:30 p.m. ceremony in the church hall. Carlotta James, Monarch Ultra project director, co-founder and marathon runner will begin the program.
Several years ago, the National Wildlife Federation challenged city mayors across America to sign a monarch pledge in that their city would support habitats to help save the iconic monarch butterfly from further decline.
Harlingen’s Mayor Chris Boswell is the most recent and 500thsignatory of the mayors’ monarch pledge. He will be a speaker at the ceremony. Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez of Pharr and Mayor Jim Darling of McAllen also have signed the pledge, with McAllen becoming a Monarch Butterfly Champion City, one of only a few cities with this highest designation in Texas.
During the ceremony, Javier De Leon, Supervisor for Estero Llano Grande State Park; Quinta Mazatlán’s Urban Ecologist John Brush; Allen Williams, Urban Habitat Specialist with PSJA; and Gisela Chapa, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Urban Ranger Project at Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge, will speak briefly of area monarch projects.
Location: St. George Orthodox Church Hall; 704 W Sam Houston Ave; Pharr, TX
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