Emotions were running high at the start of the wheelchair race, following a minute’s silence in memory of Marieke Vervoort
Nearly 2,800 participants crossed the finish line of the 29th Font Vella Lanzarote International Marathon last Saturday (7th December). The event is organised by Sands Beach Active and the local Island Council’s Sports Department, and its superb sporting atmosphere was apparent from the early hours of the morning. Despite the poor weather conditions in the days leading up to the event, on the day of the race the temperatures rose again to above 23 ºC.
MARATHON
The long distance event started at the Sands Beach Resort at 8:00 a.m. Participants came from all over the world, with seasoned marathon runners lining up next to those who were running their very first marathon on this beautiful volcanic island. The first person over the finish line was the Belgian runner Diego Van Looy, with a time of 02:29:21. The Spanish triathlete Peru Alfaro came in second, with a time of 02:35:51, and David Morris crossed the finish line in third place, stopping the clock at 02:38:12.
In the women’s race, Aroa Merino, a local athlete from Lanzarote, was the first to reach the finish line, in a time of 02:47:58. Angela McCann came in second, stopping the clock at 03:06:49, while third place went to Grace Kennedy, who recorded a time of 03:11:09 in order to complete the podium.
WHEELERS
The wheelchair race began an hour later, at 09:00 a.m., following a touching tribute to the Belgian paratriathlete Marieke Vervoort.
The champion in the wheelchair race was Vitalii Gritsenko, who crossed the finish line in first place, in a time of 00:47:21, followed by Julien Casoli (00:48:57) and the Spaniard Jordi Madera (00:49:00).
HALF MARATHON
The half marathon runners took to the start at 10:30 a.m. in Puerto del Carmen, setting off towards the finish line located at the Sands Beach Resort, in Costa Teguise. The race was won by Juan Miguel Moreno, who completed the course in a time of 01:12:40. Luke Boland crossed the finish line in second place, with a time of 01:15:34, while Patrick Jonckheere came in third, with a time of 01:16:33.
The women’s race was won by the Dutch athlete Nicole Dissel, who crossed the finish line with a time of 01:23:38, followed by Rachel Davies (01:25:30) and Jacqui Lane (01:26:33), who took second and third place, respectively.
10 KM
The participants lined up for the start of the 10 km race in Lanzarote’s capital, Arrecife. The Catalan athlete Jaume Leiva didn’t leave space to let himself be caught out – he began to distance himself from his rivals at around the kilometre 4 marker, and continued to pace himself well right up to the finish line, arriving in first place with a time of 00:32:01. The local runner Tinguaro Quintero came in second, stopping the clock at 00:32:31, and Adriano Engelhardt completed the podium, taking third place with a time of 00:32:39.
Laura Vílchez won the women’s race, completing the course in a time of 00:37:34. Gloria Cuéllar came in second, with a time of 00:38:18, and Rachele Botti was third, with a time of 00:38:50.
The 29th edition of the Font Vella Lanzarote International Marathon was wrapped up with a great prize-giving ceremony.
You can view all the results here: Results
