Six record in six years
For the fifth consecutive year, the men’s record of the Zurich Marató Barcelona, one of the fastest marathons in Spain and Europe, has been broken. Ethiopian athlete Tesfaye Deriba has set a new best time of this circuit (2:04:13), leading the race from the 36th kilometre and reducing the 2024 time set by the Eritrean-Swiss Abraham Tadesse — who was racing — in 48 seconds (2:05:01). In second place was the Kenyan Cornelius Kibet Kiplagat (2:04:54), also lowering the previous record by seven seconds. His compatriot Enock Onchari (2:05:20) completed the sweep of the men’s podium.
Tesfaye Deriba, “I am very happy because today I achieved my goal. To win in Barcelona and set a new course record.”
Women’s race
In the women’s race, Kenyan Sharon Chelimo crossed the finish line in 2:19:33, setting a new course record, 11 seconds faster than the one set in 2023 by Ethiopian athlete Zeineba Yimer Worku (2:19:44). Ethiopia’s Yebrgual Melese crossed the finish line in second place (2:20:47) and Kenya’s Linet Masai was third (2:21:01). In addition, France’s Mekdes Woldu, fifth overall in the women’s race, set a new national record (2:03:13).
The race is organized by the Barcelona City Council and RPM Sports. The event set participation records in the number of women racing, which was 25 percent more than 6,500 marathoners, which means that one in four participants was female. Also, there were visitors from 109 different countries.
This event made history, being the edition with the most participants, hosting the Spanish and Catalan Marathon Championships and setting new course records for both men and women. With a temperature of 10°C at 8:30 in the morning (race start time), a humidity of 58% and a cloudy sky on a day with ideal weather conditions for running. With 27,000 race bibs sold and beating its own participation record, in force until 2025 since 2016, thousands of runners took the start on Paseo de Gracia.
