The most female marathon in history has women as the protagonist in a 42,195-meter route, on unusual dates in May, still reflecting the coronavirus crisis and the collateral damage of the war in Ukraine, which have caused a drop in enrollment, which has had an impact, above all , on the male involvement. The organization hopes and believes that everything will return to normal when the Barcelona Marathon recovers March 19, 2023 its usual date of celebration.
“We must remember that the last marathon was held on November 7, 2021 and for the popular runner, preparing a test of these characteristics twice with just six months apart is an excessive challenge; that, together with the drop in participation that all European marathons have noticed, caused by the pandemic crisis, has been decisive in that this year there are fewer athletes than on other occasions”, defends Christian Llorensdirector of RPM and head of the race.
The answer
However, why have women, unlike men, not given up on signing up for the race and picking up a bib number? Llorens has the answer: “Women, in all fields of sport, are turning more than ever, hence this growth in participation and because we have taken great care of the female group, sending them personal communication and promoting training so that they could prepare as well as possible. possible for the test & rdquor ;.
The 25% of the participants that this Sunday from 8 in the morning the streets of Barcelona will be assaulted by women, which represents a total of 2,014 women’s numbers among the 10,000 participants who will run through the streets of the Catalan capital.
The numbers
In general, it represents a decrease in almost 5,000 athletes among those who ran in November last year in Barcelona. “It must be taken into account that among the 15,000 participants in 2021 there were 8,000 people pointed to the 2020 one, which was suspended due to the pandemic, and to those whose number was respected & rdquor ;, he says Llorens.
Tomorrow we close registrations, but yesterday we already made the legend of the blue line come true.🔵
Tomorrow we close registrations, but yesterday we already made the legend of the blue line come true.🔵#ZurichMaratoBCN #AMagicExperience#10KBCN #marathon #marathon #blueisthecolor pic.twitter.com/1kghlvCJWH
— Zurich Barcelona Marathon (@maratobarcelona) May 1, 2022
The dates are not the most suitable since there are many athletes, especially foreigners who come from colder countries, who are afraid of the heat that it can get in Barcelona. And on the descent we must join the local participants who have not dared to face the challenge of a second marathon still with the memory of the sensations of the last fall.
the 10 kilometers
Related news
In addition, there will be a 10-kilometer race that will start 20 minutes later and that has a charitable purpose, since 2 euros of the 25 that registration costs will be given to Red Cross as aid to refugees from the Ukrainian war. 45% of the 10,000m runners will be women.
As for the purely sporting challenge, it is once again about trying to break the circuit record held by the Kenyan Samuel Kosgey (2.06.03) in the male category and the Ethiopian Tadu Teshomein the female section with 2.23.53 hours.