Dulce María Rodríguez de la Cruz (born 14 August 1972 in Toluca) is a Mexican

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

who competes in

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

and road running events, including the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

. A three-time Olympian for Mexico (2000, 2004 and 2008), she has also run for Mexico at the World Championships in Athletics on three occasions. Rodríguez has won medals internationally for Mexico, including two golds and a silver from the Central American and Caribbean Games and a silver from the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic Com ...

. She holds a marathon best of 2:28:54 hours, set at the 2006 Chicago Marathon, and has won domestic marathon races in Mexico City, Torreón and Monterrey. She has won numerous national titles in long-distance events, including the 10,000 m in 1999, five 1500 m titles from 2000 to 2005, and two Mexican titles in the marathon in 2005 and 2009.

Career

Born in Toluca, she competed at her first high-profile, international competitions in 2000. She ran in the long race at the

2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 18/19, 2000. The races were held at the Sporting Complex in Vilamoura, Portugal. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'', in the Herald, and for the IAAF ...

, represented Mexico at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

over

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

, and competed for the hosts at the

2000 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 9th IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was held on November 12, 2000, in the city of Veracruz, Mexico. A total of 182 athletes, 121 men and 61 women, from 52 countries took part. Detailed reports on the event and an appraisal of the results ...

in Veracruz, where she was 37th overall.Rodríguez Dulce María

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. Retrieved on 2011-04-16. She made her debut over the

distance in 2001 and was the runner-up at the Lalá Marathon in Torreón.Rodrigues Dulce Maria
Marathon Info. Retrieved on 2011-04-16. Rodríguez competed internationally over 5000 m that year at the

2001 World Championships in Athletics The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 August and 12 August and was the first time the event ...

. She took a regional double at the 2002 CAC Games, taking the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

s in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

and 5000 m. She also won the inaugural

North American 5K Championships The North American 5K Championships, also known as the North American 5 km Team Challenge, was an annual road running competition over 5 kilometres between three North American countries: Canada, Mexico and the United States. The event was cre ...

title that year, helping Mexico to the team title as well. She missed out on a medal at the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the games was made in the mid-1990s, when Dominican Republic had one of the highest growth rates in Latin America. Al ...

, taking fifth in the 1500 m, although she did win the

Mexico City Marathon The Mexico City Marathon ( es, Maratón Internacional de la Ciudad de México) is an annual road running event over the marathon distance which is held on the streets of Mexico City in late August or early September that in 2018 received IAAF ...

later that year. She established a new best time of 1:11:36 hours for the half marathon at the 2004 Paris Half Marathon with her second-place performance.Dulce María Rodríguez
. Posso Sports. Retrieved on 2011-04-16. She made her second Olympic appearance at the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, taking part in the heats of the 5000 m. Rodríguez won at the Lala Marathon in April 2005, setting a course record time of 2:29:00 hours – her first run under two and a half hours. She set a personal best in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

the following month, running 31:25.33 minutes in Palo Alto, California. She was selected for both the 5000 m and 10,000 m events at the

2005 World Championships in Athletics The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland (6 August 2005 – 14 August 2005), the site of the first IAAF ...

, but did not fare well at either distance. She received an elite invitation to the New York City Marathon that year and was 14th in the race. She was second at the Gran Pacifico Mazatlan Half Marathon, completing the distance in a career best time of 1:10:30 hours. Attempting to defend her 5000 m title, she entered the 2006 CAC Games, but found herself beaten into the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

position by Colombia's Bertha Sánchez. On the roads, she was fifth at the Philadelphia Distance Run and came tenth at the Chicago Marathon, setting a new personal record of 2:28:54 hours for the event. The highlight of her 2007 season was a 10,000 m silver medal behind Sara Slattery at the

. She was fourth in the 5000 m at that tournament, as well as placing top three at that year's

Stramilano Half Marathon The Stramilano is an annual athletics event which takes place in Milan, Italy in spring. The event comprises three parts: the Stramilano International Half Marathon (a professional road running competition over 21.0975 km), the La Stramilano d ...

. Her third consecutive Olympic selection came at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in Beijing, where she ran in the final of the 10,000 m. Domestically, she was second at the Lala Marathon and won the Monterrey Marathon. She also secured fourth place at the Berlin Half Marathon. She came second to Margarita Tapia at the 2009 Lala Marathon, but was later upgraded to first as Tapia failed her post-race drugs test. She made her represented Mexico internationally in the marathon for the first time at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

, but did not manage to finish the race. 2009 World Championships - Women's Marathon results
.

. Retrieved on 2011-04-16. She ended the year with an appearance at the

2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was held in Birmingham, United Kingdom on 11 October 2009. It was the final event of the International Association of Athletics Federations' 2009 World Athletics Series. Organisation The city of B ...

and registered her highest placing at a world event, coming 21st overall.

Personal bests

1500 m The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

: 4:11,46 min (2007) *

3000 m The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

: 9:02,34 min (2001) *

5000 m The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stand ...

: 15:18,06 min (2004) *

10,000 m The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

: 31:25,33 min (2005) * Half marathon: 1:10:30 (2005) *

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

: 2:28:54 (2006)

Achievements

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Dulce Maria Living people 1972 births Mexican female long-distance runners Mexican female marathon runners Sportspeople from Toluca Olympic athletes for Mexico Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 Pan American Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Mexico Pan American Games silver medalists for Mexico Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Mexico Central American and Caribbean Games silver medalists for Mexico Competitors at the 2002 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games 21st-century Mexican women