Ruben Pascal Sança (born December 13, 1986) is a Cape Verdean long-distance runner who specializes in the marathon. He attended and ran for the

University of Massachusetts Lowell The University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell and UML) is a Public university, public research university in Lowell, Massachusetts, with a satellite campus in Haverhill, Massachusetts. It is the northernmost member of the University of M ...

, after which he began training under Gary Gardner as a member of the Whirlaway Racing Team. Sança is the current Cape Verdean record-holder at 3,000 m indoors at 8:07.50, the 5000 m indoors at 13:56.46, the 5000 m outdoors at 14:05.39, road 5 km at 14:11 and the marathon at 2:18:47. He was one of three members of the 2012 Cape Verdean Olympic team.

Running career

At the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, he competed in the men's 5000 metres, finishing 40th overall in Round 1, failing to qualify for the final. Soon after the London Olympics, he underwent knee surgery to remove a benign tumor in his right knee, which had affected him throughout the Olympics. He returned to the marathon on April 21, 2014, finishing in 21st place with a time of 2:19:05 at the

2014 Boston Marathon The 2014 Boston Marathon took place in Boston, Massachusetts, on Monday, April 21. It was the 118th official running of the Boston Marathon, traditionally held on Patriots' Day. The race is organized by the Boston Athletic Association, and has be ...

Major competition record

Personal bests

References

External links

Official website
* * *
Ruben Sança: London 2012 OlympianRuben Sanca Runs to Gold in the Lusofonia Games
*Interview
Ruben Sanca: UMass Lowell - World Class Runner
*Training
Emily Maye // Tracksmith: Ruben Sanca
*Hall of Fame
UMass Lowell: Hall of Fame Speech
1986 births Living people People from Sal, Cape Verde Cape Verdean male long-distance runners Olympic athletes for Cape Verde Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Cape Verdean male marathon runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 African Games African Games competitors for Cape Verde UMass Lowell River Hawks men's track and field athletes {{CapeVerde-athletics-bio-stub