Morning of records next to the Arc del Triomf. Once again the vertiginous circuit of Barcelona lived up to expectations and produced a day of records in the test. The eDreams Mitja Marató in the Catalan capital crowned the Kenyans Charles Kipkurui Langat and his compatriot Irine Jepchumba Kimais, who took the victory and did so with the best times in the competition. To the satisfaction of the organization, the participation record was also broken. 17,855 runners were at the starting line, thus surpassing the 2017 mark (17,839). Therefore numbers prior to the pandemic, favorable circuit and athletes prepared and with flying shoes.
If we add to that an excellent temperature for the practice of the long-distance tests (9 degrees and sun) all the ingredients were given to live a morning of marked records. It was seen from the first moment.
While an endless stream of competitors began their journey next to the Parc de la Ciutadella, the elite athletes were already flying on their way to the Estació de França, before facing the only stretch at kilometer 3 with a medium difficulty difference, the Paral-lel. In the men’s category, a group of nine athletes, Africans to the flake, led by the Ethiopian Birhanu Legese and his compatriot Haftu Teklu, record of the test until this Sunday and double winner in 2022 and 2021, were already outstanding and passed kilometer 5 with a time of 14m3 (10s faster than the test record). The hostilities continued until the middle of the test, with the only great novelty being the withdrawal of the 6 from Teklu. Kipkurui, ultimately the winner, was already in command at kilometer 10 (27m54s, 2s better than the time of 2022).
Shortly after the leading group was reduced to just three athletes (Kipkurui, Solomon Kirwa and Birhanu Legese), crossing km 15 with a mark of 41m51s (3 seconds below the record) and relaying between the trio.
In the 15th the race began for real (as in the 35th in a marathon) and a new change of pace led to that becoming a one-on-one between Kipkurui and Legese. In the 20th (55m56s, 27 seconds below the record) it was already seen that there would be a new Barcelona record. The finish was exciting with a sprint that took Kipkurui (58m53s) ahead of the Ethiopian Legese (58m57s). Teklu’s record (59m6s) was already history. Third came the Kenyan Kirwa (59m28s). The best Spaniard, in his distance debut, was Abdenasser Oukhelfen, who finished fifteenth (1h2m51s).
In the female category there was also going to be an outstanding performance, that of Irine Jepchumba. But she wouldn’t have it easy. The Kenyan Gladys Chepkiriu was in charge of opening the hostilities, passing the 5k with 15m19s, leading a group of eight runners, with her countrywoman Joyciline Jepkosgei and the famous Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba, as illustrious.
Until the 10th, Chepkiriu continued to command (30m37s) with the same protagonists in tow. The theater hit occurred after 15k, where Jepkosgei’s attack (45m48s) took place. From here emerged Jepchumba, 24, who reached the end with a time of 1h4m37s, 32s below the previous record, achieved by Florence Kiplagat in 2015. Second was Jepkosgei (1h4m46s) and third Catherine Reline (1h5m39s). Therefore Kenyan triplet in women. The best Spaniard was the Catalan Mireia Guarner, twelfth, with a time of 1h13m13s, more than two minutes below her personal best (1h15m21s).
Little by little, the majority of the 17,000 runners were arriving and spreading around the Arc del Triomf. Many of them and they with a personal brand in their bag. Such as Àngel Lizaur, Miriam López or María Jesús Soriano. A terrific morning.
