Tica takes the title: Jenny Méndez wins 43rd Marine Corps Marathon

Jenny Méndez, from San José, Costa Rica, finished at the top of 43rd Marine Corps Marathon in Washington D.C. this Sunday.

Méndez, 38, was the top female finisher with a time of 2:40:20. With a pace of 6.06 mph, Méndez finished more than six minutes ahead of her closest contender, Lindsay Gabow, 24, from Houston, TX.

Jeffrey Stein, 32, from Washington D.C. took first place in the men’s division with a time of 2:22:49 while Omar Duran, 39, finished first in the hand cyclist division with a time of 1:21:27.

In a Facebook post the day after the 43rd Marine Corps Marathon, Méndez wrote “that moment where so many feelings cross, work, discipline, effort, sacrifice, pain, tears, happiness, satisfaction at seeing the results that we work for every day.”

Méndez also thanked her coaches, Daniel Gaviria Lopez and Cesar Lizano.

Méndez’s win came just a few months after she finished fourth in the Central American and Caribbean Games marathon in Barranquilla, Colombia. Méndez finished that marathon with a time of 3:03:00.