The reign of Kenya has finally ended. Mexican runner Juan Luis Barrios Nieves won Guadalajara’s 24th International Half Marathon on Sunday, beating Kenyan runner Julius Kipyego, who has won the race for the past six years.
Barrios won with an impressive time of one hour 3 minutes and 21 seconds. The 21-kilometer race wound through the main streets of the city on the way to the finishing line on Av. Chapultepec.
Kipyego placed in third with a time of 1:03:55. Geoffrey Kenisi Bundi, another Kenyan, was second.
The winner of the women’s category was Kenyan Risper Gesabwa, with a time of 1:14:29. Two Mexicans, Mayra Sánchez Vidal and Dulce María Rodríguez de la Cruz, came in second and third.
The total prize money offered by the event was one million pesos (US$67,000). Mayor Ramiro Hernandez Garcia was on hand to present medals.
‘We are satisfied because the half marathon was brilliantly organized,” Hernandez said. “There was very high participation and even better, we’ve had the satisfaction of seeing a Mexican triumph.”