Winners of the Lala Marathon Repeat Victory
Daniel Ortiz Pérez and Isabel Vélez Hernández repeated as the absolute winners of the Lala Marathon, which took place this Sunday with a participation of 5,600 runners.
It's another historic victory for this competition, as two laguneros had never repeated as winners before, giving a special touch to this event that attracted athletes from different states of the Republic.
In kilometer 29, regiomontano Jorge Hernández was disqualified as he was running with a number that didn't belong to him, leaving the door open for Daniel Ortiz to win.
The men's race had a very consistent Daniel, who fought with regiomontano runner Jorge Hernández for a good part of the race. Hernández was momentarily in the lead with an advantage of more than 100 meters over his immediate pursuers.
In the first kilometers, a compact group took the lead, including Daniel Ortiz, another lagunero Cristian Zamora, Efraín Orduña, and Jorge Hernández from Monterrey.
They passed through Gómez Palacio and Lerdo, alternating the lead. In kilometer 15, the runner from Monterrey was in front, followed by Ortiz, Zamora, and Orduña in that order. The first two kept their pace, but the others fell behind.
It was in kilometer 30 that the champion started to open up the gap and head towards the final stretch.
He entered Campestre Torreón with the full support of the crowd, continuing until reaching Bosque Venustiano Carranza. By then, there was no doubt that he would be the winner, but it was also evident that he couldn't beat the best time of a lagunero in the Lala Marathon, which is held by José Antonio García Olvera, with a time of 2:22:50.
Daniel calmly crossed the finish line with a time of 2 hours, 26 minutes, and 54 seconds, improving last year's time by 23 seconds. Efraín Orduña Gudiño finished in second place with a time of 2:30:38, while lerdense Cristian Zamora came in third with a time of 2:33:01.
Isabel Vélez had no rival
In the women's category, Isabel Vélez had no problem repeating as the winner. She ran at her own pace, pushed when necessary, and practically dominated the entire route.
She managed herself very well, so she was already seen as the virtual winner early on. She crossed the finish line with a time of 2 hours, 49 minutes, and 46 seconds, followed by Yolanda Ugalde Rodríguez with a time of 2:53:18, and Berenice Rodríguez Varela in third place with a time of 2:56:01.