Abraham Tadesse sets new course and record at the Zurich Marató Barcelona 2024

– The Eritrean athlete with Swiss citizenship managed to lower the 2023 record on the new circuit by 5 seconds (02:05:01h).
– On the other hand, the Ethiopian athlete Degitu Azimeraw won the women’s category with a time of 02:19:52h, only eight seconds behind the course record.
– Thousands of participants took part in the great athletics festival in Barcelona, also with a record female participation, with 5,000 marathon runners, one out of every four participants was a woman and 57% of them were international runners.

This Sunday, the 45th Zurich Marató Barcelona has started its new circuit at a record pace, with a temperature of 10°C at 8:30 in the morning (race start time), a humidity of 57% and a cloudy sky on a day with ideal weather conditions for running. With 20,000 race numbers sold, thousands of runners took the start on Paseo de Gracia, to the sound of Catalan musicians Xavi Duch and Patricia Paisal performing ‘Barcelona’ by Montserrat Caballé and Freddie Mercury. George Hirsch, one of the founders and honorary president of the New York Marathon, fired the starting gun.

The race, organised by the Barcelona City Council and RPM Sports, has repeated for the second consecutive year this 2024 as Gold Label race, as well as having new records in female participation (25%) with 5,000 marathoners, which means that one out of every four participants has been a woman and 57% of international runners, coming from up to 109 different nationalities. Likewise, the city of Barcelona has been involved in the event, cheering on the participants at the more than 25 animation points along the 42 kilometers of this fast and monumental circuit.

Fifth male record for the race in five years
For the fourth consecutive year, the men’s record of the Zurich Marató Barcelona, one of the fastest marathons in Spain and Europe, has been broken. In the men’s category, the Eritrean athlete with Swiss nationality, Abraham Tadesse, managed to beat the previous best time of this race (02:05:01h), five seconds below the time set in 2023 by Marius Kimutai (02:05:06h). In second place was the Kenyan Collins Kipkurui Kipkorir (02:06:44h) and third was his compatriot Edmond Kipngetich (02:07:21h). The three athletes who completed the podium ran together at the head of the race until the 35th kilometer, when Tadesse broke away to enter the finish line alone.

Abraham Tadesse, winner of the Zurich Marató Barcelona 2024 and athlete of On, the brand that sponsors the race: “I wanted to win Barcelona again and I have achieved it. I won the half-marathon of this city in 2015 and today, nine years later and almost 42 years old, I can assure that nothing is impossible, age is just a number. I was able to set the course record and I would like to come back to this race to try to finish in 2 hours and 4 minutes”.

In the women’s category, Ethiopian athlete Degitu Azimeraw won in 02:19:52h, eight seconds behind the course record set last year by Zeineba Yimer Worku (02:19:44h). In second place, her compatriot Shuko Genemo Wote crossed the finish line (02:21:35h) and Meseret Dinke Meleka, also Ethiopian and athlete of On, was the third classified (02:22:58h). The Ethiopian women led the women’s elite group throughout the race, until just before km 30, when Azimeraw took the lead alone towards the finish line.

Degitu Azimeraw: “I am very happy to have won in Barcelona. I really liked the course. I will try to repeat next year, because it is a course that I think can be run even faster and I would like to beat the course record next time”.

Also, this Sunday the 46th Catalan Marathon Championship was celebrated in the 45th Zurich Marató Barcelona. A championship in which Artur Bossy won in the absolute male category (02:19:11h) and for the absolute female category the winner was Jessica Tipán (02:48:21h).

A true running party in Barcelona
On the political side, the Zurich Marató Barcelona 2024 was attended by the Mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, at the prize-giving ceremony. Likewise, just before the awards ceremony, there was a twinning ceremony between Barcelona’s Marathon and the marathon of New York, whose representative was George Hirsch, the founder and honorary president of the American marathon.

Likewise, the Zurich Marató Barcelona 2024’s most charitable aspect has come from the Zurich Foundation, which has donated 1 euro for each finisher. Finally, the total amount raised was 16,175 euros and it will be donated to the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu.

During the whole weekend both athletes and citizens have enjoyed a real sports party in Barcelona: on Friday 8th March and Saturday 9th March the atmosphere was already warming up with the Expo Sports (Runner’s Expo), where approximately 100,000 visitors have passed by. Also, on Saturday 9 March, the Breakfast Run (1,500 participants) was held as a pre-race activation for the big marathon in the Catalan capital.