10 AUGUST 2008: PANAMA CITY INTERNATIONAL MARATHON – AIMS Race

Henry Jaen won the Panama City International Marathon for the fourth time. The Cuban repeated the strategy of his previous three victories (2003, 2004, 2007) and it once again paid off. The race began at 05:00 under cloudy skies and occasional showers, with temperatures reaching 28°C.

Early in the race the leading pack consisted of Jaen, Colombia's Victor Hugo Ocampo, Kenyan Joshua Busienei and Peruvian Florencio Mahacuay (winner of the 2006 race). These three couldn't maintain Jaen's pace and gradually fell behind.

At 31km on the Amador Causeway, Jaen stepped up the pace and only Ocampo and Machacuay could stay with him. At 38km on Avenida 4 Julio Jaen repeated the surge of his previous victories, and his exhausted rivals could only watch him disappear into the distance.

"The winner of this marathon is the person who is best prepared, and who knows how to run intelligently," commented Jaen at the finish.

The Colombian Ocampo said he started out too fast and later ran out of gas. "My feet were like lead," he commented.

Cuban Yailen Garcia took the female division to complete the Cuban sweep of the event.

MEN:
1  Henry JAEN                     CUB  2:29:11
2  Victor Hugo OCAMPO             COL  2:30:53
3  Fritz Eulogio BONIFACIO        PER  2:31:31
4  Florencio MACHACUAY            PER  2:31:53
5  Joshua BUSIENEI                KEN  2:32:59
6  Caludio RAMOS                  ECU  2:36:22
7  Bernardo JIMENEZ               DMR  3:38:28
8  Rosvelino CHOCCA               PER  2:39:11
9  Edgar Milton ARGUELLO          ECU  2:42:26
10 Jose David CARDONA             COL  2:43:55

WOMEN:
1  Yailen GARCIA                  CUB  2:51:17
2  Isabel ORELLANA                MEX  2:58:08
3  Julia Rivera LOPEZ             PER  3:00:16
4  Rosa RIVERA                    COL  3:06:48
5  Ana Isabel SANCHEZ             PAN  3:16:04
6  Dina CRUZ                      GUA  3:17:50
7  Margarita CONDE                GUA  3:29:45
8  Margareth VON SAENGER          PAN  3:34:54
9  Belkys MINOZ-HERNANDEZ         CRC  3:43:53
10 Unilma RUIZ                         3:47:14

Source: AIMS.org