With the participation of more than 450 runners, today a Saturday in favor of life was enjoyed in the traditional Cacahual-Ciudad Deportiva half marathon, in which Yumisleydis Heredia triumphed, among the women, and Francisco Rodney Estévez among the men.
The start of the race was at seven in the morning, in the vicinity of the National Monument that keeps the remains of Lieutenant General Antonio Maceo and his assistant Captain Francisco Gómez Toro; and the finish line was located on the outskirts of the Ciudad Deportiva coliseum.
Among the females, Heredia completed the 21-kilometer (km) route in one hour, 15 minutes and 52 seconds, with a wide advantage over Yalenis Sánchez (1:59.25) and the Japanese Yuki Asaka (1:59.35), occupants of the second and third place, in that order.
Very happy with her victory, the winner declared to the Cuban News Agency that she did not expect to reach the finish line first and even less with such a good time, which constitutes a personal record for her in that distance, lowering her previous best record by six minutes.
I was very moved by that result, so I want to thank my coach, teammates and my family for their support, Heredia assured.
In her third participation in this event, the runner from the province of Santiago de Cuba said that she aspires to continue improving her performances in the half marathon and prepare as well as possible for Marabana 2022.
Last year I achieved the third position of the 21 km in Marabana, so my wish will be to stay among the best three or even win the competition, he said in reference to the main marathon race in Cuba, to be held on November 20.
Also this Saturday among the men, Estévez (1:07.57) crossed the finish line first, followed by Luis Alfonso Guevara (1:14.31) and Mahel Salah (1:15.52), from Yemen.
As an important element of the Cacahual-Ciudad Deportiva half marathon, everyone who completed the course this Saturday qualified directly for Marabana 2022, which will again be in person with the assistance of Cubans and foreigners.
Carlos Gattorno, director of the Marabana-Maracuba project, pointed out that, together with the occupants of the first three places in both sexes, the first 50 women and the same number of men, as well as the disabled, will also be awarded.
Likewise, the manager wanted to thank the support offered by the government leadership in Havana and by the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (Inder), for the organization of an event that, as is customary every year, is included in the activities of celebrations for the 61st anniversary of the creation of the Inder, on February 23, 1961.
