Image: Sergio Betancort
More than half a thousand people said goodbye to the year 2014 by doing sports and running the traditional San Silvestre of Arrecife. A sporting event that was held in the Charco de San Ginés and that, as a novelty in this edition, had its start at the facilities of the Marina Lanzarote sports port. A fun afternoon in one of the emblematic areas of the island's capital and that once again brought together hundreds of people to say goodbye to the year by doing sports.
The first to participate were the boys and girls of the pre-Benjamin and Benjamin category, who had an adapted route of 400 meters. They had to go around the Charco de San Ginés area located next to the Four Corners twice. All of them demonstrated their desire to run and did not give up until they reached the finish line. The participants received a medal accrediting their participation in the San Silvestre of Arrecife.
Next it was the turn of the runners of the children, youth and cadet category. The children had to go around the perimeter of the Charco de San Ginés once and the youth and cadets had to go around the route arranged by the organization twice. Carlos Padrón and Maribel Mosquera were the winners of the cadet category.
The main event would arrive around six o'clock on Wednesday afternoon. All the participants moved to the Plaza de Naos in the Marina Lanzarote Sports Port, the area from which the start was given. There they were able to participate in a group warm-up with a Zumba section. Nearly half a thousand people were the ones who took the start of the main event of the San Silvestre of Arrecife, having to face a route of about 5 kilometers, with two laps of the Charco.
The San Silvestre of Arrecife had the participation of José Carlos Hernández. The Olympic athlete from Lanzarote ran the skeleton event in disguise, as did some of his training partners, and was in charge of setting the pace of the race. José Carlos Hernández crossed the finish line as the winner of the Arrecife event and the second place on the podium went to the Galician Elías Domínguez. Elías was the Spanish Marathon champion in 2008, and is in Lanzarote spending a few days on vacation. Rubén Ramírez was the third classified in the absolute category. In the senior category, the podium was led by José Antonio Molina, accompanied by Josué Ramos and Dionisio de León, as second and third classified.
In the women's category, the winner of this new edition of the San Silvestre of Arrecife was the German Patricia Grewatta, a runner who is in Lanzarote spending a few days of rest. The judges had a problem when preparing the women's classifications, due to the large number of athletes who decided to register on the same afternoon of the event. The organization announced that the women's classifications will be published on the official website of the event and the trophies will be withdrawn later.
The San Silvestre of Arrecife was organized by the Department of Sports of the Arrecife City Council, with the collaboration of CD Lomo, El Balandro Sports Association, Judges of Lanzarote, JCL Events, Marina Lanzarote and the Sports Service of the Cabildo of Lanzarote. The sports afternoon concluded with the drawing of different prizes among all the participants, with all the commercial premises of the Charco de San Ginés collaborating in the prizes.