2010, the Barcelona year: 2:07.30, Marathon record!

07/03/2010

Jackson Kotut, a 21 years old Kenyan athlete who has the same manager as ‘the one and only’ Usain Bolt, Rick Simms, has won the 2010 edition of the Barcelona Marathon in an historic race, where the best six athletes – five Kenyans and one Ethiopian – beat the so far Spanish record of 2:09.34. From now on, the fastest national Marathon track is not in San Sebastian, but in Barcelona.

Kotut has clocked a breathtaking 2:07.30, taking the fourth place in the annual ranking. Second best athlete was his fellow countryman Felix Keny, who crossed the finish line with only 7 seconds time difference. The first half of the race was led by a group of 20 men, who clocked 1:04.44, which gives an idea of how fast the winners ran the second part of the race: 1:02.46.

Even the sixth athlete to cross the finish line, who finished the Marathon in 2:09.24, improved the so far record of Kenyan Timothy Cherigat, obtained at the San Sebastian Marathon in 2002. This year’s edition has set even more records: never have so many people participated or finished the race.

The first female athlete to cross the finish line with a 2:31.51 has been Debele Wudnesh Nega from Ethiopia.

The Marathon of the European Athletics Championships Barcelona 2010 will not be the same as the one held this morning. The circuit on 31 July (women) and 1 August (men) will be very flat and athletes will have to run four laps of 10km. Start and finish line are located on Passeo Picasso, next to Parc Ciutadella. According to the preliminary entry list, 69 athletes will participate in the male-, and 54 in female category.