Kenneth Gasque, the father of Ironman Lanzarote receives the award Isla de Lanzarote 2014.
This year’s tourism awards were presented at a special ceremony for World Tourism Day celebrated at the Castillo de San José, the winners were selected by a jury formed from members of the Sociedad de Promoción Exterior de Lanzarote (SPEL).
Kenneth Gasque won the highest accolade for his decisive work for raising awareness about sports tourism during the 30 years he has been based on the island, living a dream. Fondly known as the padre del Ironman Lanzarote, Kenneth has also been responsible for adding other International sporting events to the Lanzarote Calendar including the Wine Run and Ocean Lava, he commented during the award that “it’s a dream come true, on an island that transforms dreams into reality”.
After congratulating all of the winners, Kenneth talked about his life on the island since arriving 30 years ago including some of the events he had to overcome to organise the first Ironman Lanzarote in 1992 when there was no email or fax. “Do not give up, keep going, follow your dreams" he explained is his motto for life. The Dane dedicated the award to his family, sports family of La Santa and the fifteen thousand finishers of Ironman. “If this is a dream, please, don’t wake me up” he emotionally concluded.
Other winners of the Distinguidos del Turismo 2014 awards included the read more »