On Sunday, a U.S. runner Mary Akor and an athlete from Kenya, Julies Kibet, won the San José City Marathon.

The 42.2-km competition was organized by the municipality of San José as part of the 200th anniversary of the capital city foundation.

In the females' category, Akor won with a time of 2:48. Second place went to Ángela Vásquez from Mexico with a time of 3:03. And third place went to the Costa Rican Elizabeth Hernández with a time of 3:23.

In the males' category, first place was won by Kibet with a time of 2:25, followed by Ángel Olivo from Venezuela with a time of 2:35. Third place went to Costa Rican Jonathan Varela with a time of 2:39.

More than 4,500 athletes ran in the sporting activity, which included other special categories distances between 5 and 22 kilometers around the capital city.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the founding of San José City.

According to the Ministry of Education, the origins of the city began in 1736 by order of the Cabildo de León, which was an administrative council of Spain in Central America. They ordered the construction of a chapel near the area they called La Boca del Monte and St. Joseph was chosen as parish patron, hence its name.

The enactment of the Constitution of Cádiz in 1812 issued that the name of the church, San José, represented the name of that city. In 1823 San José City became the capital of Costa Rica.

As part of the celebrations, the Municipality of San José organized a two-weekend festival in various public places in the city, where parades, concerts, artistic activities and the marathon took place.

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