By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
More than 100 runners participated in the third annual Del Rio Marathon, beginning at the
amphitheater on the San Felipe Creek on Saturday morning.
The marathon was put together by the Del Rio Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Awareness organization, a non-profit group. Former Del Rio Mayor Bruno Lozano, executive
director of Amistad PTSD Awareness organization, organized the first marathon three years ago
to bring awareness to local mental health needs.
During the event, Lozano said his organization put the event together to help the community,
adding that they are “here for (people with PTSD) and can get you to the right people to talk to.”
Various organizations were part of the event, including Top Notch Supplements, Iron Division
Clothing, First Command, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Val Verde and Shumla
Archaeological Research & Education Center. Chick-fil-A, Cardinal Points Coffee and H-E-B
provided food and drinks for the runners and persons who attended.
Runners and other attendees began showing up at 6 a.m. for the morning courses, which
started with the overall marathon (42k) and continued with the half-marathon (21k), the 5k and
the 10k.
The event ended at noon with an awards ceremony. The first awards were presented to Hector
Hernnandez, the first-place male winner in the overall marathon, and Charisma Martinez, the
first-place female winner in the overall marathon.
The rest of the courses were divided by age. The winners of the half-marathon were the next to
be announced, and the winners in the 50-plus category were Luis Zarazua in first place and
Mark Dotson in second place.
In the 40-49 division, the female winners were Melba Garcia in first and Agnieszka Kuck in
second, and the male winners were Sam Hawkins in first, Jeremy Klein in second and Bryan
Huebsch in third.
In the 30-39 division, the female winners were Emily Frost in first, Briana Rivera in second and
Yadi Arreola in third, and the male winners were Leonardo Ramos in first, Brandon Diaz in
second and Silas Oswald in third.
In the 18-29 division, the female winners were Clarie Carley in first, Lydia Myszka in second and
Pranavi Sayyaparaju in third, and the male winners were Keegan Davis in first, Adrian Garcia in
second and Roy Talamantez in third.
The winners for the 10k were announced next. In the 0-17 division, the male winner was
Antonio Padilla, and the female winners were Giana Rodriguez in first, Grecia Maldonado in
second, and Kaighley White in third.
In the 18-29 division, the male winners were Alexei Villarreal in first, Nico Villarreal in second
and Arnulfo Ramirez in third, and the female winners were Sanvalentina Gallegos in first, Tessa Fry in second and Daniela Chavez in third.
In the 30-39 division, the male winners were Trevor Muzzy in first, Rudy Johnson in second and
Coleman Manning in third, and the female winners were Adriana Contreras in first, Kaitlyn
Thomas in second and Sally Diaz in third.
In the 40-39 division, the male winners were Jesus Rocha in first, Ricardo Espinoza in second
and Merven Matugas in third, and the female winners were Jessica Jackson in first, Gisselle
Rodriguez in second and Carmen Abreu in third. And in the 50-plus division, the male winners
were Francisco Vielma in first, Mark Manning in second and Segundo Flores in third.
The winners for the 5k division were announced last. In the 0-17 division, the male winners were
Noah Bahena in first, Liam Graf in second and Dale Dewey in third, and the female winners
were Fernanda Lopez in first, Rockelle Gonzalez in second and Lucero Tarango in third.
In the 18-29 division, the male winners were Michael Cheney in first, Lance Dehlke in second
and Joshua Feltz in third, and the female winners were Skylar Stramoski in first, Yesenia Garza
in second and Andrea Padilla in third.
In the 30-39 division, the male winners were Jamey Thomas in first, Ariel Rubenzer in second
and Jose Esquivel in third, and the female winners were Jennifer De La Rosa in first, Jessica
Martinez in second and April Alejandro in third.
In the 40-49 division, the male winners include Abel Gonzalez in first, Steven Garza in second
and Sam Morgan in third, and the female winners include Geo Apolinar in first, Annamarie
Sampson in second and Kristen Fooshee in third. And in the 50-plus division, the male winners
include Joe Jimenez in first, Velancio Martinez in second and Art Sanchez in third.
The winners received trophies with designs created by T-Shirts Etc. Branched Chain Amino
Acids (BCAAs), shaker cups and shirts were given as awards by the vendors who attended.
Matthew McCormick, representative of Top Notch Supplements, said it was great to see the
fitness community come together on Saturday morning.
The runners received medals with an image representing the shamanistic pictographs in
Seminole Canyon. Lozano said he wanted to keep the medals “locally inspired” by including
images representing the cultural roots in Val Verde County where people can visit.
Scott Fooshee, pastor of the First Christian Church Del Rio and co-owner of CrossFit Del Rio,
said he appreciated what Lozano has done for the community and added that the marathon is
the biggest awakening of fitness in Del Rio he has seen.
“As we look at those brothers and sisters who are suffering from trauma and from post-traumatic
stress, the biggest advocate for those things is community, so that we all know that we are not
alone,” Fooshee said while talking about the importance of the marathon.
