{"id":15273,"date":"2026-02-19T18:40:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T17:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mitjamarato.barcelona\/?p=15273"},"modified":"2026-02-19T18:41:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T17:41:21","slug":"hyundai-mitja-marato-barcelona-by-brooks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mitjamarato.barcelona\/en\/2026\/02\/19\/hyundai-mitja-marato-barcelona-by-brooks\/","title":{"rendered":"Hyundai Mitja Marat\u00f3 Barcelona by Brooks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hagos Gebrhiwet\u00a0(58:05) and\u00a0Loice Chemnung\u00a0(1:04:00) claim victory in a record-breaking edition<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Hagos Gebrhiwet (58:05) and Loice Chemnung (1:04:00) delivered dominant performances in a race that saw the women\u2019s course record broken and the men\u2019s world-leading time of the year set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Barcelona further consolidates its position as the second most popular half marathon in Europe, with 36,000 participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The two pre-race favorites, Hagos Gebrhiwet and Loice Chemnung, lived up to expectations at the 36th edition of the Hyundai Mitja Marat\u00f3 Barcelona by Brooks, where the women\u2019s course record was broken and an all-time participation record of 36,000 runners was reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Men\u2019s race<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Hagos Gebrhiwet broke away from his main rivals in the early stages of the race, setting a pace no one could follow. For many kilometers, he was running at a rhythm suggesting a sub-58-minute finish. Although he ultimately crossed the line in 58:05, his performance stands as the fastest time in the world this year over the distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Second place went to Switzerland\u2019s Dominic Lobalu (59:26), followed by France\u2019s Emmanuel Roudolff (59:37).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Women\u2019s race<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In the women\u2019s race, Loice Chemnung secured a commanding victory in 1:04:00. Her time not only earned her the win but also ranks as the sixth fastest in history and sets a new women\u2019s course record in Barcelona, improving the previous mark by 12 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Second place went to American Weini Kelati (1:06:04), while Ethiopia\u2019s Diniya Abaraya (1:06:28) completed the podium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">National records and standout performances<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to the men\u2019s world-leading time and the women\u2019s course record, the event witnessed several national records. Among them was Australia\u2019s Jack Rayner, who finished sixth in 59:53, breaking the Australian national record by six seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Winners\u2019 reactions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hagos Gebrhiwet:<\/strong><br>\u201cThe race is beautiful and the course is very fast. I already imagined that after seeing the time achieved here last year. My first goal was to win, and I also wanted to run under 58 minutes. I won the race and came close to my personal best, so I\u2019m happy. I did think about the record at some point, but in the end I felt the fatigue, and the wind in the final stretch made it harder. I was on pace for something very special.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Loice Chemnung:<\/strong><br>\u201cThe course is very fast and flat, ideal for strong performances. I enjoyed it a lot and the atmosphere was fantastic. Thank you, Barcelona \u2014 I hope to come back. I\u2019m very happy to have achieved both the victory and the course record. I wasn\u2019t fully aware of it at the finish, but I celebrate it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Record participation and a festive atmosphere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Barcelona enjoyed a vibrant running celebration with the largest half marathon in Spain and the second biggest in Europe. The 36,000 runners represent the highest participation figure in the history of the race, marking the fourth consecutive year of growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The event also achieved a historic female participation record, with more than 14,000 women (40% of the field). Additionally, 40% of runners were international, representing 93 nationalities, and 35% of participants were under 35 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The city streets were filled with energy throughout the morning. Alongside the record-breaking participation, thousands of spectators came out to cheer on the runners. The 25 entertainment points along the course further elevated the atmosphere of an event that has become an international benchmark, not only for its elite sporting level but also for its festive character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Strong institutional presence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Barcelona\u2019s Councillor for Sports, David Escud\u00e9, officially started the race at 8:30 a.m. alongside Berni \u00c1lvarez, Minister of Sports of the Government of Catalonia. Both attended the finish area together with Barcelona\u2019s Mayor, Jaume Collboni, and presented the awards to the winners and top finishers alongside Elena Gris, Marketing Director of Hyundai Motor Espa\u00f1a.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sold out at the PaRUNda<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the highlights of this edition was once again the PaRUNda, the event\u2019s official after-race celebration, which also sold out. More than 3,500 people attended the open-to-the-public party held at&nbsp;Poble Espanyol&nbsp;from 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., consolidating its status as the perfect finale to the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With food trucks and live music, the PaRUNda once again became the ideal meeting point to extend the race-day experience in a festive and shared atmosphere among runners, supporters, and running enthusiasts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hagos Gebrhiwet\u00a0(58:05) and\u00a0Loice Chemnung\u00a0(1:04:00) claim victory in a record-breaking edition Hagos Gebrhiwet (58:05) and Loice Chemnung (1:04:00) delivered dominant performances in a race that saw the women\u2019s course record broken and the men\u2019s world-leading time of the year set. Barcelona further consolidates its position as the second most popular half marathon in Europe, with 36,000 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":15274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sin-categoria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mitjamarato.barcelona\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mitjamarato.barcelona\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mitjamarato.barcelona\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mitjamarato.barcelona\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mitjamarato.barcelona\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15273"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.mitjamarato.barcelona\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15277,"href":"https:\/\/www.mitjamarato.barcelona\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15273\/revisions\/15277"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mitjamarato.barcelona\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mitjamarato.barcelona\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mitjamarato.barcelona\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mitjamarato.barcelona\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}