High-altitude marathon? Not for Wesley Lavender.
Lavender, 36, lives in Colorado Springs, average elevation some 6,000 feet above sea level. Sunday morning in Albuquerque, average elevation about 5,300 feet, he won the 43rd annual Duke City Marathon in a time of 2 hours, 54 minutes, 11 seconds.
“I appreciated the lower altitude, yeah,” he said.
The DCM was Lavender’s second marathon, some 10 years after his first. Did he expect to win?
“Never in my wildest dreams.”
Lavender said he’s not sure if there’s a third marathon in his future, though he’d love to run the hallowed Boston Marathon.
Elizabeth Cinquegrani has already checked Boston off her list, as well as at least a half-dozen other marathons and a few ultra-marathons. She was the first woman across the finish line on Sunday in a time of 3:14.55.
A Wisconsin native, Cinquegrani is a surgery resident at UNM Hospital.
Sunday’s 7 a.m. start, she said, was a breeze.
“I’m used to getting up at, like 3:30 or 4 to go to work,” Cinquegrani said. “So I slept in ’til like 5 today.”
Generations
Rio Rancho’s Patrick Miranda, 19, was Sunday’s youngest champion — winning the 5K run in 16:17.
Albuquerque’s Laura Draelos, 65, was the oldest — winning the 10K walk in 1:09:22.
To be clear, Draelos was the overall 10K walk champion, not just the women’s champion. Her friend Mandy Owens of Alamogordo, meanwhile, was the overall winner of the 5K walk in 35:38.
It was Owens’ 15th victory at the DCM.
“I love the course, I love the race,” she said. “… I felt really good. I felt strong.”
Owens and Draelos are national-class racewalkers who compete regularly in the National Senior Games. Owens, 60, won two power-walking gold medals at the 2025 Games in Des Moines, Iowa. Draelos won silver in the 3,000-meter race walk each of the past two years.
To be continued …
In 1984, Albuquerque residents Tico and Marge Navarro waded through miles of red tape to stage the inaugural Duke City Marathon.
The Navarros have since moved to Durango, Colorado, but they were present and accounted for at Civic Plaza on Sunday for the 43rd annual DCM.
Tico Navarro, 85, said he can hardly wait for the 44th.
“I can’t do any physical stuff anymore,” he said. “… I think I’m doing well for my age.
“Fortunately, a lot can be done on the computer — emails, etc.”
Last year, the City of Albuquerque became an official DCM sponsor. Though the city has always provided assistance, Navarro said, the city’s involvement has been especially helpful the past two years.
Though the DCM still makes use of the Paseo del Bosque Trail, the city has allowed more use of city streets.
“The trail is not big enough, wide enough (for two-way traffic) anymore,” Navarro said. “… It’s made a big difference.”
Help when needed
Navarro spoke about a vision-impaired 10K walker who needed guidance on the course.
“We asked for a volunteer to guide him,” Navarro said.
Two women answered the call.
“They walked with him the entire route,” DCM spokesman Burt Trembly said. “That was pretty neat.”