The Zurich Maraton de Seville, a race which has been awarded a five-star certification from European Athletics Running for All, first took place in 1985 but it is set to be bigger than ever this year with a record 13,700 runners registered to take part on Sunday 19 February.
The Spanish city will welcome runners from a record 77 countries - and five continents - who will all come in search of achieving fast times and personal records on the famously fast and flat course that finishes inside the stadium which played host to the 1999 World Championships.
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Overseas participation accounts for a record twenty percent of the field while the race remains popular among the local running fraternity with 3800 participants hailing from Seville. Six participants have also participated in every edition of the Seville Marathon and they have all been awarded with a lifelong bib number for future editions of the race.
At the front end of the race, the organisers will be hoping this year’s elite fields will be able to challenge the course records which stand to Kenya’s Cosmas Langat and Portugal’s Marisa Barros at 2:08:13 and 2:26:03 respectively. The fastest athlete in the men’s line-up is Kenya’s Nicholas Kipkemboi whose lifetime best of 2:06:33 is nearly two minutes in excess of the course record.
There will also be plenty of domestic interest in both races. Former European 5000m champion Jesus Espana, 38, will be looking to build on his promising sixth-place finish in last year’s race when he clocked 2:11:58 on his debut while Paula Gonzalez will defend her title in the women’s race after injury forced her to miss the Olympics in Rio.
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Live streaming and results for Sunday’s race will be on the event’s official website: http://www.zurichmaratonsevilla.es.
The European Athletics Quality Road Race standards act as an assurance for road runners throughout Europe. They distinguish between races that respect the standards and those that haven’t sought certification or assessment. They form the foundation of Running for All, a strong recognisable brand for running activities throughout Europe.
More information on Running for All:
Website: european-running4all.org
Twitter: @runningforall
Contact: [email protected]