Ajijic’s Jose Isabel “Chabelo” Gonzalez Valenzuela captured his second consecutive championship title in 43-kilometer El Tecuan leg of the Ultra Trail Campanaria mountain race series held Sunday, August 12. 

He crossed the finish line 4 hours, 47 minutes and 27 seconds after the 6 a.m. starting time.

The accomplished long-distance runner clocked in 15 minutes over his record-setting 2017 run, attributing the slower pace to his ongoing recovery from a muscle injury that forced him to pull out of 100-kilometer Ultra Maraton de Los Cañones held last month in Guachochi, Chihuahua.

Nayeli De La Torre Segura of Guadalajara took top honors in the ladies’ division of the Tecuan run, slicing seven minutes off the standing record with a time of 5:49:21.

The longest route in the three-legged Ultra Trail competition takes runners from the Ajijic Malecon through village streets and up into the north shore mountain range, passing through territory in Jocotepec, Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos and Chapala.

Alberto Arrayga of Gueparados Chapala won the men’s division of the 14-kilometer La Campanaria contest, and Ajijic’s America Romero led the women, beating her own 2017 record by three and a half minutes.

A total of 317 athletes competed in the fifth annual Ultra Trail Campanaria, organized by Club Salvajes Ajijic.