Bahrain set Kenyan national Marius Kimutai, with a time of 2:05:06, the second best world mark of the year, while Ethiopian Zeineba Yimer, with 2:19:44, won the women’s category of the Zurich Marathon in Barcelona; both broke career records.
The 44th edition of the test, held on the urban circuit of Barcelona with the participation of 15,200 runners (3,600 women), started at 8:30 am.
An initial temperature of 12ºC, which gradually increased to 15ºC, with partly cloudy skies and 80 percent humidity were favorable conditions for the athletes to aim to beat the best score in the event.
In the men’s category, the ‘African legion’, with high level runners, was launched and a group of twenty, with some ‘hares’ among them, set a speed below the record (2h05:53 in 2022). He passed ten kilometers with 30 seconds below the record (29:18) and stayed on pace for the half marathon (1h.02:26).
The ‘hares’ left the main group at kilometer 30 and three runners -Turkish Kaan Kigen Ozbilen, Moroccan Othmane El Goumri and Marius Kimutai- set the pace. At that time they were 28 seconds off the record.
Kaan Kigen could not keep up with the rhythm of El Goumri and Kimutai and was left on the hook at kilometer 38. Shortly after passing kilometer 40, with 1h.58:38 (36 seconds below the record), Kimutai He launched a final attack to prevail in a time of 2:05:06, a new race best time.
Kimutai beat the mark achieved last year by Ethiopian Yihunilgne Adame (2:05:53) by 47 seconds. El Goumri was second with 2:05:12 and Turkish Kanna Kigen, third in 2:05:37.
Marius Kimutai, 30, lowered his personal best by 41 seconds, which was 2:05:47 (Amsterdam 2016), and also achieved the second best mark this year for a marathon in Spain.
Carles Montllor from Sabadell, with a time of 2:25:11 and in twentieth position, was the best Spanish. The athlete from Les Franqueses del Vallés, Jordi Madera, won the wheelchair category with 1h.35:20
Among the women, after a sensational race, the battle is between five runners: the Kenyan Selly Chpeyego, the Ethiopian Zeineba Yimer, the Romanian of Kenyan origin Delvine Meringor and the Ethiopians Buzunesi Getachew and Zenebu Tikadu.
Passing kilometer 10 was done in 32:31 (1 minute less than last year. It reached two minutes in kilometer 15 (48:52) and two and a half in the half marathon with 1h.09:05 ( 1h.11:35 in 2022).
At kilometer 30, Chepyego, Merigor and Yimer passed almost three minutes below the record (1h.38:21). And it was the Ethiopian Yimer, the great favourite, who provided the final change of pace to win in 2h.19:44, lowering the mark achieved last year by his compatriot Meseret Gebre by 3’25” (2h.23.09) .
Kenyan Selly Chepyego was second, 20 seconds behind (2:20:04) and Delvine Meringor was third on the podium with 2:20:48. Zeineba Yimer Worku, 24, achieved eighth in the 2021 London Marathon with a best time of 2:19:28 (Valencia 2019), the second world record of the year and the best in Spain in 2023.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Jason Root, a professional writer working with Today Times Live, the premier news website. I specialize in sports writing, covering the biggest stories in the world of athletics. With an eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, I provide engaging and informative articles that capture the key elements of any event or issue. My work has been featured on numerous respected websites and publications around the world.
