There are 1500 meters of trail for walking and running, as well as equipment for physical exercise and lots of shades and trees, along the Vale de Deus straight line and in the green zone between roads, the current and the old EN125. The Carlos Boto Maintenance and Running Circuit, in Lagoa, was inaugurated last Sunday, July 30th, in an emotional ceremony.
The inauguration of this space, an initiative of the Union of Parishes of Lagoa and Carvoeiro, with the support of the City Council, in addition to being intended for the practice of sports by the people of Lagos, who already used it before, even when they did not have the necessary infrastructure, also served to honor Carlos Boto, deceased 13 years ago, "an unavoidable figure in local society, linked to sport and associations", as highlighted by the local authority.
Joaquim João, president of the Union of Parishes of Lagoa and Carvoeiro, and Francisco Martins, president of the Lagoa Council, highlighted the important role played by Carlos Boto in sport and the legacy he left to subsequent generations.
Both acknowledged that, "from the moment the executive of União das Freguesias made the easy decision to give the name Carlos Boto to the circuit as a way of paying homage to him, everything else became secondary."
The inauguration of the circuit was accompanied by numerous political and social figures from the municipality, as well as many friends and relatives of Carlos Boto and even younger and younger athletes from the clubs he founded or helped to found, such as Lagoa Académico Clube (LAC).
The most interesting thing about this honor is that it was promoted by two municipalities governed by the PS, while Carlos Boto was a communist and it was by the CDU that he was elected councilor of the Lagoa Council, in a PSD executive, having been assigned the responsibility of Sport and Culture .
But, as the socialist Joaquim João, president of the União de Freguesias, emotionally pointed out, “Carlos is always present not only in Sports and in Youth. Much of what we are doing today is due to his work and his vision, which he achieved».
But the most emotional speech was, as expected, that of Carlos Boto's eldest daughter, Ana Catarina Boto, who began by remembering her father, «the only one who should be here and isn't. Or is?".
«There was in his office, at home, a sentence that, even today, at the beginning of the school year, I write on the board of all my inaugural Portuguese classrooms: “Setting an example is not the best way to influence others ; it is the only one”, he added, recalling the poet Pablo Neruda.
«Carlos Boto was a communist and the communist that he was, that he always was and still is, always gave him the lucidity of being part of a strange “WE”, a broad, all-encompassing we, almost without borders. He said – and it will be read, I hope, for a long time – that “We transformed Lagoa into a sports council with a view to the future”», recalled Ana Catarina.
«Run, father. We stayed to honor your iron will and, therefore, we will always go forward with you», concluded, moved, the honored's daughter.
This was followed by the unveiling of the plaque, made by the mayors and also by the closest family of Carlos Boto, his widow Manuela and their two children, Ana Catarina and João Paulo.
And to make use of this new sports infrastructure, which some criticize for being located in an area between busy roads, there was a tranning circuit class and another zumba class promoted by Muv Gym.
The Carlos Boto Maintenance and Running Circuit consists of a mixed track measuring around 1500 meters, in colored bituminous pavement and colored synthetic mortar.
It also has two areas for maintenance equipment, which allow users to diversify the type of physical exercise in the two green areas of the circuit.
This was already an area much sought after by the people of Lagos for their runs and hikes, so, according to the União de Freguesias, «the works will give greater safety to the place, also intending to attract more hikers and joggers».
«This circuit appears in a natural way, in a place where many people from Lagos have already traveled to do their walks. Faced with this fact, we only had two options: either we didn't see it or we tried to give them more security and conditions, so that people could continue to practice this physical activity. That's what we did», explained Joaquim João, president of the Union of Parishes of Lagoa and Carvoeiro.
Speech by Ana Catarina Boto:
"Hello good Morning.
Thank you so much to everyone for being there, on this Sunday morning that could be like any other, but it isn't. On behalf of my family and, very specifically, on a personal basis, I would also like to thank the executive of the Union of Parishes of Lagoa and Carvoeiro and the Municipality of Lagoa for having changed the preferable date for this inauguration. So that I could be here, we ended up splitting up and inaugurating this Maintenance and Race Circuit on the same day that hundreds of other Lagons have to be in one of the biggest mountain bike races in our municipality. But I know, my family knows and, I'm sure, all of you know that those who would like to be here and aren't here are too, that it's just a matter of heart and ease for those who don't know how to want.
So, the only one who should be here and isn't is Carlos Boto. Or is?
There was a phrase in his office at home that, even today, at the beginning of the school year, I write on the board of all my inaugural Portuguese classrooms: “Setting an example is not the best way to influence others; is the only one." We have long learned to walk and keep pace with the days without him, but the example, the singular example of what my father's life and commitment was to us, to those he loved, but, above all, to those who needed the shoulder, the legs, the hands, the eyes, the words of my father never passed us by, was never forgotten. He always knew how to want together. And, I have no doubts, it was Neruda's poem that sounded inside him. The poet said about the Communist Party:
You gave me brotherhood for what I don't know.
You have added to mine the strength of all who live.
You gave me the country again as if I were born again.
You gave me the freedom that the loner doesn't have.
You taught me to kindle goodness like a fire.
You gave me the righteousness the tree needs.
You taught me to see the unity and diversity of men.
You showed me how one individual's pain dies with everyone's victory.
You made me build on reality as on a rock.
You made me an adversary of the evil and a wall against the frenzied.
You made me see the clarity of the world and the possibility of joy.
You made me indestructible because, thanks to you, I don't end in myself.
Carlos Boto was a communist and the communist he was, who he always was and still is, always gave him the lucidity of being part of a strange “WE”, a broad, all-encompassing we, almost without borders. He said – and it will read, I hope, for a long time – that “We have transformed Lagoa into a sports council with a view to the future”. He, us, all who wanted and want, even today, things to change, advance, improve, progress and bring what is necessary to life, well-being, dignity, justice, freedom. It was, for not having wanted for him, but for everyone, that he stayed and that he is here, here, today.
Isn't that right, Joaquim João?
Isn't that right, Lagoa City Council?
Isn't it, LAC?
Isn't that right, comrades and comrades of the PCP?
Isn't it, friends, so many out there?
Today it is a tribute to “our” Carlos Boto, my father, our father, brother, partner, friend, athlete, coach, mayor. Lagoon. It is also and will have to be a tribute to the communist who, indestructible by any death and physical absence, does not end with him, nor did it end on that other Sunday in September almost thirteen years ago.
You are here, in each and every one that wants beyond you.
Run, Dad. We stayed to honor your iron will and, therefore, we will always go forward with you.
Thank you".
Photos: Elisabete Rodrigues|Sul Informação
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