More than 3,000 runners are expected to take to the streets of Guadalajara this Sunday to compete in the 30th edition of the city’s marathon. Ahead of the annual event, a special meeting was held in the city to recognize the only three runners from Jalisco to have won the race in the history of the event.
The two male athletes, Eduardo Blake and Margarito Alonso, were presented with certificates of recognition by the Consejo Municipal del Deporte de Guadalajara (COMUDE), while the female athlete Salomé Contreras was not in attendance.
“The marathon is the most important sporting event in Guadalajara,” says Alonso, who won the race in 1996 and 1999, the latter being the last time a local triumphed at the event.
Alonso, who is from Ciudad Guzman, says that watching the Guadalajara marathon in his teenage years had inspired him to persist with his running, and winning the event was the proudest moment of his career.
Since retiring from professional running, Alonso has focussed his efforts on training younger runners and now leads a group of around 50 athletes.
A few years before Alonso’s successes, the male race had been won by Eduardo Blake who ran to victory in 1985. Blake went on to compete in many elite marathons in North America and Europe, as well as triathlons and ultra-marathons. In the presentation, which took place on Tuesday at the COMUDE sports center,
Blake was also recognized for his altruistic activities within the Jalisco community. Since being diagnosed with cancer, the athlete has done a lot of work to support children suffering from illness, and he attributes his continuing strength to his Catholic faith.
Despite the celebratory atmosphere surrounding this anniversary marathon, both former winners are fairly downbeat about the prospect of a Jalisciense triumphing at this year’s event. According to Alonso, one athlete to look out for is one of the athletes he trains, Alejandra Jacobo, who finished in 4th place in the women’s event last year and has continued to train hard this year. “There are quality runners here in Jalisco, they just need to focus a little bit more,” he says.
On Sunday morning, the elite male athletes will begin the 26.2-mile course at 7 a.m., with the elite females starting two minutes later, and everybody else following at 7.20 a.m. Runners will start and finish alongside the Rotunda of Illustrious Jalisco Citizens. The route will take them in a loop around the outskirts of the city, with the course record standing at just over 2 hours and 16 minutes.
Total prize money for the event is 1.07 million pesos, including prizes for the first male and female Mexicans so long as they finish within a specified time. As in previous years, athletes from Kenya are the favorites for both the men’s and women’s races..