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Montevideo Debuts on the Marathon Circuit

Categories: Uruguay, Citizen Media, Sport, Travel
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Photo published on Twitter by Santiago Runners [1]

[All links lead to Spanish language pages]

Montevideo launched its first marathon [2] with the participation of nearly 2,000 athletes, placing it on the international circuit for this race at the regional level. Organized by the Montevideo Town Hall [3] and the Athletic Confederation of Uruguay [4] the race was attended by athletes from around the country and other nations, who departed from the Legislative Palace on three courses to the Parque Rodo promenade. 

The competition included a regulation course of 26.2 miles and two alternative courses for beginning and amateur athletes; the 13.2 mile Half Marathon and the 4.24 mile Participatory course.

The departure from the Legislative Palace staircase took place on Sunday, May 11, 2014 at 7:00 a.m. The extensive marathon route caused traffic and public transportation detours, which were planned for in advance by the event organizers. 

The Montevideo Marathon had 1,947 participants; 690 women and 1,257 men which broke down in the following way: 512 athletes in the 26.2 mile marathon, 732 runners participated in the 13.2 mile race, and 703 in the 4.24 mile. Among the athletes there were 3 who are blind and 4 in wheel chairs. 

In this first edition 1,900 Uruguayan runners registered with 10 Argentinians, 8 Brazilians, 7 Chileans, 7 Americans, 4 Mexicans, 2 Cubans, 2 Spaniards, 1 Venezuelan, 1 Canadian, 1 Chinese, 1 Colombian, 1 Ecuadorian, 1 Dominican, and 1 Italian. The winner was Agelmis Rojas of Cuba with a time of 2:19.33. Following him in second and third place for men were Uruguayans Martin Cuestas with 2:39.41 and Angel Portela with 2:33.23. In the women's rankings first place went to Uruguayan Laura Bazallo with 3:06.34, second to Uruguayan Laura Del Puerto with the same time, and third to Uruguayan Nelly Portillo with 3:15.59.

The group of Chilean runners Runchile(@Runchileweb [5]) show their medal:

The Montevideo Marathon Finisher medal!!!

The marathon constituted a new milestone for Uruguayan athletics and included the only competition missing from the circuit of the capital city's races. [8]

The Athletic Confederation of Uruguay showed its approval with the realization of the marathon through a comment its president, Pablo Sanmartino, made to El Pais digital, calling it “a dream to have a marathon in the city of Montevideo on the calendar [9].”

The Montevideo Marathon had some unexpected competitors as is referenced by journalist Seba Amaya(@sebaamaya [10]) on Twitter:

Here is the gaucho who ran the 26.2 mile Montevideo Marathon with rubber-soled espadrilles

There were also humorous comments such as that of Diego Gonzalez (@diegodelacurva):

If I had ran the Montevideo marathon I would be finishing right now.

Among the marathon participants was a group belonging to the Uruguay Diabetes Foundation FDU (@DiabetesUruguay [14]), as its comment on Twitter shows:

Members of the DIABETEAM who participated in the 26.2 mile Montevideo Marathon; Alejandro Duera, Gisele Mosegui and…

Video of the group of runners from Aguilas Running [17]: