Day of records in the Zurich Marato Barcelona 2021

• Samuel Kosgei (Kenya) and Tadu Teshome (Ethiopia) win the race and set new course records: 2:06:03 (men) y 2:23:53 (women)

• More than 15,000 runners make the Zurich Barcelona Marathon the most popular long-distance road race held in Spain since the pandemic began

• Local runner Eric Domingo sets a new Guinness record in marathon running and pushing a wheelchair. His mother, affected with multiple esclerosis, was on it

• The 2022 Zurich Barcelona Marathon will take place in April, 3 and registration is now open

973 days later, the Zurich Barcelona Marathon shone again. 973 days have passed since the 10th of March, 2019 and the marathon has thrilled the city once again. Barcelona has welcomed more than 15,000 runners from 120 countries, all of them eager to live a magical experience.

And this comeback has been in the best possible way, with an excellent day to run. Sunshine and perfect temperature. Both athletes, runners and Barcelona citizens have enjoyed this true sport festival that began on Friday the 5th with Expo-Sports, continued on Saturday with the Breakfast Run by Asics and the Kids Race by Caixabank and reached its peak today with the 42nd Zurich Barcelona Marathon.

It has been a day in history. Race winners Samuel Kosgei and Tadu Teshome have both set new course records for Barcelona marathon. The same happened two years ago, in the 2019 Zurich Barcelona Marathon by athletes Alemu Bekele and Kuftu Tahir. Following some changes made on the race course, this confirms Barcelona circuit as both very fast and very attractive for athletes and runners.

Samuel Kosgei took everybody by surprise on kilometer 38, where the 35-year old Kenyan accelerated his pace and left Moroccans Othmane El Goumri and Mohamed Ziani behind. The gap was enough for Kosgei to make it all alone to the finish line. The Kenyan soon realized that the course record -and the subsequent bonus- was at his fingertips and pushed really hard on the last kilometer. After an agonizing final straight, Kosgei stopped the clock in 2:06:03, one second faster than the previous record.

SAMUEL KOSGEI: “The Zurich Barcelona Marathon race course is really good, fast and flat. I liked it very much and I soon realized that setting a good time was very realistic. I kept the pace with the Ethiopians up to kilometer 37 and then I thought that this was a good point to accelerate. It worked out and I won the race with a new course record. I am very very happy”.

As for the women, the 20-year old Tadu Tashome .-debutant in marathon- confirmed her good moment at this point of the season and won the race setting an astonishing 2:23:53 on the clock. The young Ethiopian has improved the race course record by nearly one minute (previous; Kuftu Tahir: 2:24:44, 2019). Tashome is the youngest winner ever in Barcelona in the women’s class. Second and third -and also below the previous course record- were Meseret Gola (2:24:09) and Meseret Bekele (2:24:25).

TADU TESHOME: “It is impossible to feel happier than I feel now. This is my debut in marathon and not only I have clinched victory, but I’ve set a new course record. I go home really happy because the atmosphere in the city during the whole race was fantastic and the crowd cheered and encouraged us from the beginning to the end”.

New Guinness record

It has been also a perfect day for Spanish Eric Domingo. The runner from Barcelona has written one of the most beautiful stories in this 2021 Zurich Barcelona Marathon. He has set a new Guinness record for a runner pushing an occupied wheelchair. His mother, Silvia Roldán, affected by multiple esclerosis, was on it and she really enjoyed the whole race…and the record too. Mother and son set a new record of 2:53:28, more than five minutes faster than the previous one. “Mission accomplished”, Eric Domingo said. “Today’s been one of the happiest days in my life for me and for my mother too. We had fun, we competed and we have made this disease more visible to everyone” .

The 2022 Zurich Barcelona Marathon and the 2022 eDreams Barcelona Half Marathon, already on schedule

 
The two biggest long-distance road races in the city of Barcelona have already been scheduled on the 2022 racing calendar. The 2022 Zurich Barcelona Marathon will take place on the 3rd of April and the 2022 eDreams Barcelona Half Marathon will take the streets on the 6th of March.

Registration for both races is already open at www.zurichmaratobarcelona.es and www.edreamsmitjabarcelona.com respectively.