# Ponce Marathon

The Ponce Marathon (Spanish: Maratón La Guadalupe de Ponce) is a long-distance running event held every year in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Established in 1970, it is the only Olympic marathon held in Puerto Rico.
The race has a length of 42.195 kilometers (26.219 miles) and takes place on a Sunday during the month of December. It starts at 5AM, and runs from the intersection of PR-12 and PR-14 to Parque de Bombas. It is managed by Secretaría de Recreación y Deportes (Secretariat of Recreation and Sports) of the municipality of Ponce. It is certified by Logistik Event Management, "the same organization that certifies the Boston Marathon."
The 40th edition of the marathon in 2010 was attended by over 10,000 people. Some 150 athletes participated in the event in 2013; by 2024 the number of participants was above 250. In 2010, the event received an award from the Federación de Atletismo de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico Athletic Federation) as the best athletic running event in Puerto Rico; it had attained a perfect 100-point score in all evaluation areas. The 53rd edition in 2024, had room for up to 500 runners, of which over 250 had already registered some three weeks in advance.

## Overview

In addition to being the only one of the international marathons run over the distance of 42.195 kilometers and the national marathon of Puerto Rico, the marathon is the qualifying race for the Central American and Caribbean Games.
In addition to medals, Marathon organizers award cash prizes to winners, in both men and women categories, exceeding USD$30K. First place winners receive a $2,000 cash prize. The next five follow-up winners receive $1,000, $500, $400, $200 and $80 respectively. The Marathon also awards prizes to winners, both men and women, in these nine age categories: 20–24, 25–29, 30–34, 35–39, 40–44, 45–49, 50–54, 55–59 and 60+. First, second and third-place winners in each of these categories receive $80, $50 and $25 prizes, respectively. Unlike other marathons, registration for La Guadalupe is free; registration generally takes place the day before the event (Saturday) at Parque de Bombas. The $2,000 cash prize is the highest cash prize paid out for any running event in Puerto Rico.

## Route

The race starts at 5:00 am at PR-12 (Avenida Santiago de los Caballeros) at the intersection with PR-14 (Avenida Tito Castro/Avenida Betances) and heads south towards La Guancha. It makes 3 round trips on Avenida Santiago de los Caballeros and, on the fourth round, it then detours onto Avenida Las Americas (PR-163) heading west towards PR-123 (Avenida Hostos). At Avenida Hostos it turns right onto Calle Marina and heads north towards Plaza Las Delicias. The finish line will be at Calle Marina intersection with Calle Cristina, that is, right in front of Parque de Bombas in downtown Ponce. The race coincides with the Fiestas patronales de Ponce celebration. The 50th edition (2021) introduced a new route.

## Results
### 1982 (12th edition)

| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing | Ref |
| Men's Division | 1 | Jorge Luis "Peco" González | Utuado | 2:15:35 | |

### 1983 (13th edition)

The event took place on 11 December.
| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing | Ref |
| Men's Division | 1 | César Mercado | Unknown | 2:17:32 | |

### 1985 (15th edition)

| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing | Ref |
| Men's Division | 1 | Eduardo Maldonado | Unknown | 2:17:42 | |

### 1986 (16th edition)

| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing | Ref |
| Men's Division | 1 | Eduardo Maldonado | Unknown | 2:15:48 | |

### 1988 (18th edition)

| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing | Ref |
| Men's Division | 1 | Luis E. Torres | Unknown | 2:17:22 | |
| | 2 | Eduardo Maldonado | Unknown | 2:17:46 | |

### 1991 (21st edition)

| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing | Ref |
| Men's Division | 1 | César Mercado | Unknown | Unknown | |

### 1992 (22nd edition)

| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing | Ref |
| Men's Division | 1 | César Mercado | Unknown | Unknown | |

### 1993 (23rd edition)

The event was cancelled due to scheduling conflict with the concurrent event of the Puerto Rico 1993 Central American and Caribbean Games celebrated this year in Ponce.

### 1994 (24th edition)

| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing | Ref |
| Men's Division | 1 | César Mercado | Unknown | Unknown | |

### 2002 (32nd edition)

| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing | Ref |
| Men's Division | 1 | César Mercado | Unknown | Unknown | |

### 2003 (33rd edition)

| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing | Ref |
| Men's Division | 1 | César Mercado | Unknown | Unknown | |

### 2004 (34th edition)

| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing | Ref |
| Men's Division | 1 | César Mercado | Unknown | Unknown | |

### 2006 (36th edition)

The event took place on 10 December.
| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing |
| Men's Division | 1 | Luis Rivera | Aibonito | 2:24:08 |
| | 2 | Máximo Oliveras | Toa Alta | 2:36:49 |
| | 3 | José Rodríguez | Canóvanas | 2:37:42 |
| Women's Division | 1 | Yolanda Mercado | Bayamón | 2:52:51 |
| | 2 | Maribel Burgos | Carolina | 3:04:01 |
| | 3 | Mónica Larson | Arecibo | 3:21:51 |

### 2007 (37th edition)

Prior to this year the marathon was essentially a men's-only event. Women could run it but they were not awarded prizes. Starting with the 2007 marathon, women runners were officially registered as competing runners and awarded prizes the same as men.
| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing | Ref |
| Men's Division | 1 | Máximo Oliveras | Corozal | Unk | |
| Women's Division | 1 | Luz E. Torres | Guayanilla | Unk | |

### 2008 (38th edition)

The event took place on 14 December.
| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing |
| Men's Division | 1 | Luis Rivera | Aibonito | 2:28.19 |
| | 2 | Miguel Solivan | Aibonito | 2:31.21 |
| | 3 | César Mercado | Maricao | 2:38.06 |
| Women's Division | 1 | Irmalyn Falcón | Toa Baja | 2:58:03 |
| | 2 | Yolanda Mercado | Bayamón | 3:02.30 |
| | 3 | Sara Mary González | Unknown | 3:09.55 |

### 2009 (39th edition)

The event, which ordinarily takes place on a Sunday, this year took place on a Saturday (12 December). The goal was to have it coincide with Las Mañanitas to maximize the attendance to the Marathon. This year there was also a change to the route of the event.
| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing | Ref |
| Men's Division | 1 | Miguel Solivan | – | 2:24:25 | |

### 2010 (40th edition)

The event took place on 12 December.
| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing |
| Men's Division | 1 | Luis Rivera | Aibonito | 2:22:47 |
| | 2 | Nelson Rodríguez | Utuado | 2:23.32 |
| | 3 | Eliezer Robles | Lares | 2:25.45 |
| Women's Division | 1A | Yolanda Mercado | Bayamón | 2:56:26 |
| | 1B | Yolanda Mercado | Bayamón | 2:54:47 |
| | 2 | Erica Méndez | San Germán | 3:17:27 |
| | 3 | María Beltrán | Bayamón | 3:17.48 |

### 2011 (41st edition)

The event took place on Sunday 11 December.
| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing |
| Men's Division | 1 | Eliezer Robles | Lares | 2:31:09 |
| | 2 | Jesús Morales | Villalba | 2:34:20 |
| | 3 | Nelson Rodríguez | Utuado | 2:36:22 |
| Women's Division | 1 | Yolanda Mercado | Bayamón | 2:57:23 |
| | 2 | María E. Beltrán | Bayamón | 3:20:03 |
| | 3 | Liria García | San Juan | 2:20:42 |

### 2012 (42nd edition)

The event took place on 9 December.
| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing | Ref |
| Men's Division | 1 | Eliezer Robles | Lares | 2:22.38 | |
| Women's Division | 1 | Angélica Torres | Unknown | Unknown | |

### 2013 (43rd edition)

The event took place on Sunday 8 December.
| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing | Ref |
| Men's Division | 1 | Miguel Solivan | Aibonito | 2:26:38:09 | |
| Women's Division | 1 | Patricia Lázaro | Guaynabo | 3:09:47:58 | |

### 2015 (45th edition)

The event took place on Sunday 8 December.
| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing | Ref |
| Men's Division | 1 | Eliezer Robles | Lares | 2:36:55 | |
| Women's Division | 1 | Paola Rivera | Puerto Rico | 3:01:13 | |

### 2017 (47th edition)

The event was cancelled due to the 20 September Hurricane Maria. The event had been scheduled for 10 December 2017.

### 2018 (48th edition)

The event took place on Sunday 9 December.
| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing |
| Men's Division | 1 | Luis J. Rivera | Aibonito | 2:38:34 |
| | 2 | Josué Javier Ortiz | Utuado | 2:42:20 |
| | 3 | Rafael Hernández | Vega Baja | 2:46:35 |
| | 4 | Javier Torres | Aibonito | 2:51:17 |
| | 5 | Juan Pérez | Morovis | 2:56:16 |
| | 6 | Somelins Delgado | Trujillo Alto | 2:57:04 |
| Women's Division | 1 | Karla M. Sanyet | Ponce | 3:25:34 |
| | 2 | Karla Espada | Utuado | 3:30:30 |
| | 3 | Blanca N. Ocasio | Ponce | 3:57:35 |
| | 4 | Moraima Cancel | San Sebastián | 4:06:26 |
| | 5 | Damaris Mendoza | Caguas | 4:31:49 |
| | 6 | Ilka Calvo | San Juan | 4:42:55 |
5K Run
| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing |
| Men's Division | 1 | José M. González | Jayuya | 16.15 |
| | 2 | Juan Villafaña | Ponce | 17:25 |
| | 3 | Damián Guadalupe | Sabana Grande | 17:43 |
| Women's Division | 1 | Mariedalys Ortiz | Aibonito | 19:29 |
| | 2 | Karla Espada | Villalba | 19:39 |
| | 3 | Blanca N. Ocasio | Peñuelas | 20:37 |

### 2019 (49th edition)

The event took place on Sunday 15 December.
| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing |
| Men's Division | 1 | Ramón Alicea | Ponce | 2:32:57 |
| | 2 | Josué Ortiz | Utuado | 2:40:00 |
| | 3 | Nelson Rodríguez | Utuado | 2:42:00 |
| Women's Division | 1 | Yadira Rosario | Cidra | 3:18:37 |

#### 5K Run

| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing |
| Men's Division | 1 | José González | Jayuya | 15:42 |
| | 2 | Ángel Cruz | Aibonito | 16:25 |
| | 3 | Erwin Rey | Vega Baja | 17:54 |
| Women's Division | 1 | Alexandra Rodríguez | Santa Isabel | 20:16 |
| | 2 | Crystal Correo | -Unk- | 20:47 |
| | 3 | Manedalis Ortiz | -Unk- | 21:04 |

### 2020 (Cancelled)

The event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico.

### 2021 (50th edition)

The event took place on Sunday, 12 December. Beverly Ramos Morales set a new record in the women's division.
| Category | Position | Winner | Origin | Timing |
| Men's Division | 1 | Alexander Torres Rojas | Orocovis | 2:32:32 |
| Women's Division | 1 | Beverly Ramos Morales | Trujillo Alto | 2:51:54 |
| Wheelchair | 1 | Jeffrey Kennedy | Rio Grande | -Unk- |

### 2023 (52nd edition)

The event was scheduled for 17 December 2023. Due to a technical organizational error, runners ran a longer distance than the 42.195 kilometers required, and the Organizing Committee made changes so the error would not occur again; those changes were implemented the following year for the 53rd edition of the marathon.

### 2024 (53rd edition)

The event was scheduled for 15 December 2024. A runner-wearable chip was introduced this year that would make its recording of the runner's finish time the official mark for the runner. Each runner is outfitted with such chip