25 de January de 2023
The 33rd eDreams Mitja Marató Barcelona has already 17,000 runners and a strong elite line-up
| ·With just three weeks to go until the race, participation numbers have already reached pre-pandemic levels. ·The eDreams Mitja Marató Barcelona is where some of the world’s best marks have been achieved in 2022 and the only half marathon in Spain that is Gold Label, as well as one of the few in Europe. ·Haftu Teklu and Joyciline Jepkosgei together with Genzebe Dibaba head the elite that will run on 19th of February. 25.01.2023 – With just three weeks to go until its 33rd edition, the eDreams Mitja Marató Barcelona has already more than 17,000 registered runners, numbers that ensure a return to the pre-pandemic levels of participation this 2023, with 35% of foreign participants, an international percentage that is also high for a half-marathon. Likewise, in 2022, the Barcelona’s Half Marathon has shared with the Valencia Half Marathon the protagonism of being the fastest half-marathons in Spain and one of the fastest in the world, thanks to a fast and monumental circuit in equal parts. In fact, Barcelona was already the scene of five world top-25 finishes last year over the 21.097km distance. In 17th place with the time of reigning winner Haftu Teklu (59:06), in 20th and 21st, Chala Regasa (59:10) and Elvis Kipchoge Cheboi (59:15), second and third respectively, and fourth and fifth placed Antenayeh Dagnachew (59:17) and Derseh Kindie (59:18) occupy the 23rd and 24th places in the World Athletics rankings.   Undoubtedly, these marks corroborate that Barcelona is one of the ideal cities to beat the stopwatch in half-marathons, both nationally and internationally, with a youthful running atmosphere, since more than half of the participants in this 2023 are under 45 years old. In addition, since 2018, the eDreams Mitja Marató Barcelona is the only half-marathon in Spain with the IAAF Gold Label, and one of the only four in Europe. “With less than a month to go, the number of people registered for the eDreams Mitja Marató Barcelona already shows us that this will be a very special edition, we want to beat the record of the last editions with 18,000 participants. We are proud that our city is the protagonist of one of the best half-marathons in Europe where this year great international athletes have already confirmed their participation”, highlighted the Sports Councillor, David Escudé. |
  A promising elite line-up Another big incentive for 19th of February will be a list of elite athletes with some big names, starting with reigning race champion Haftu Teklu, who will be aiming for his third consecutive victory. After having been crowned as winner in 2021 and 2022, setting last year the male record of the race in 59:06′, the Ethiopian athlete will run again the eDreams Mitja Marató Barcelona 2023, and he is the favorite to win this race for the third year in a row. His strongest opponents will be his compatriot Birhanu Legese, with a half-marathon time of 59:20′ and who won the Tokyo Marathon in 2019 (2:04:48h) and 2020 (02:04:15h), and the Dutch Adbi Nageeye, who won the silver medal in marathon at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games (2:09:58h) and stopped the clock in 59:55′ at the South Shields Half Marathon in 2019. Likewise, the favorite in the elite women’s field is Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei, who won the 2017 Valencia Half Marathon (01:04:51h), a mark that places her as the ninth-fastest runner in the world over this distance, added to having won the 2019 New York Marathon (02:22:38h) and the 2021 London Marathon (02:17:43h). Her toughest rival will be the Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba. The Ethiopian also won the Valencia Half Marathon 2020 (01:05:18h) and won the silver medal in the 1,500 m at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro 2016, where she set the current women’s world record in this distance in 03:50′. |
