| | |  News from Around Banderas Bay | August 2008 
UjENA Jam Puerto Vallarta 2008 5K Wrap Up
 Bob Cohen - PVNN
| | And they are off! The Ujena Jam 5K was run Saturday morning as scheduled with a start time of 9:00 am. | | |
The Ujena Jam 5K was run Saturday morning as scheduled with a start time of 9:00 am, and with the huge crowd of runners, models, photographers, family members and general public, one would have never known that the evening prior dumped the most rain on Puerto Vallarta this year.
The venue at the Sports Stadium was full of people an hour before the race began, cameras clicking, runners stretching and the public signing up to run for one of the ten cash prizes of $100 USD. Assisting the registration process was PTV (Personal Trainers Vallarta), a relatively new company that offers personal or group training and can be reached at 221-3050 or cell, 044-322-133-7957.
The Mayor had a conflicting meeting and Lic. Marcelo Mantecon Gutierrez, the Official Administrative Mayor had the honor of firing the gun to begin the race, as the runners exploded from the gate.
It seemed as though only a few moments passed as the first runner was coming back down Ave. Francisco Medina Ascensia, the main road in town. Juan Carlos Razo Juarez, 37 years old of Puerto Vallarta blazed far ahead of all runners and crossed the finish line in a record time of 15 minutes, 35 seconds. The course was a direct run to the Holiday Inn, a turnaround and back to the finish line at the stadium.
The first woman to cross the line, also set a new record as Emma Leticia Joya, 26 years old of Puerto Vallarta covered the course in a rapid 17 minutes, 21 seconds. The two were the only runners to receive two first place prizes. They won in the open division and in the 21-39 year old divisions and walked away with medals and $200 USD each.
Another Puerto Vallarta resident, 42 year old Laura Famoso was the first woman to cross the line in the 40+ age group and she ran a solid 20 minute, 23 second race. Laura continues to pick up medals and prizes in races and other marathon competitions. Last year, she finished second, as a tourist staying at the Sheraton entered and nosed her out for the gold. This year she returned back to the winners circle.
Other winners were Silvina De La Cruz of Puerto Vallarta in the men's 40+ division. In the 20 and under division, Luis Gabriel Estrada and Elizabeth Gonzalez won their respective divisions. The 21-39 division was won by Juarez and Joya as mentioned above. The Ujena model that finished first was Aly Nixon and the photographer that won was Johan Rosen of Sweden.
The Ujena 5K run is the only required event in the Ujena Jam that all models must compete in. Consider that owner Bob Anderson is an avid runner and actually started Runner's World, which became the magazine that depicted the running craze, before he shifted to swimwear. The 5K was fun and competitive for all involved; a great photo shoot and also drew a large crowd to see the models and friends compete.
| Lic. Marcelo Mantecon Gutierrez, Official Administrative Mayor of The City of Puerto Vallarta with Ujena model Heather Cuzzort from Oregon and a student at Oregon State University. Sr. Gutierrez shot the gun to begin the race.
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| The runners at the start awaiting the opening gun to begin the race.
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| Just 15 minutes and 35 seconds later, overall winner and new record holder Juan Carlos Razo Juarez of Puerto Vallarta is just 25 yards from the finish line. Notice that there is not even another runner in sight to challenge Juan.
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| Almost two minutes later, the overall women's winner and also new record holder Emma Leticia Joya finished the course in 17 minutes and 21 seonds. Behind her is a male competitor; she destroyed the women's field.
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| Laura Famoso of Puerto Vallarta approaches the finish line to win the women's 40+ division in 20 minutes and 23 seconds.
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| Ujena founder Bob Anderson still runs competitively and crosses the line at just over 20 minutes and 30 seconds.
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| From left to right, 40+ winner Laura Famosa and overall winner Juan Carlos Razo Juarez representing Team Pizza Papa Don, along with Ujena's Bob Anderson.
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| Don Lynch, of Pizza Papa Don "tapping" Bob Anderson to rid him of some pain in his foot. Don can be seen using his ability to heal many with pain with this "tapping technique" almost anywhere in town. Amazingly, the results are remarkable.
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