Historic edition of Madrid Medio Marathon

In addition, two of the best athletes in history, the Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie and the Portuguese Rosa Mota, were the ambassadors of the race. A total of 23,000 runners took part in the Movistar Madrid Medio Maraton (an all-time participation record with 21,000 athletes) and the ProFuturo Race.

In sporting terms, the large group of up to 30 elite athletes fought for victory on the brand new and monumental course with a spectacular final kilometre along the Gran Vía to Paseo de Recoletos, passing by the emblematic Telefónica Building, engaging with Telefónica’s Centenary and as part of its celebratory events. In the men’s category, a group of up to four runners kept an eye on each other until the last kilometres, but the final attack by Kenyan Mike Kipkorir was devastating. Kipkorir clocked in 1h01:07, 13 seconds ahead of the firs runner up Ezekiel Mutai, of Uganda. Another Kenyan athlete, Esphond Cheruiyot, was third with 1h01:24. The first Spaniard to finish was Ayad Lamdassem, tenth, with 1h06:45. Other illustrious names of Spanish athletics, such as Chema Martínez, ambassador of Telefónica, Abel Antón, ambassador of Joma Sport or Pablo Villalobos, also ran the 21,097 metres through the centre of Madrid.

In the women’s category, Ethiopia’s Aberash Shilima Kebeda dominated the race quite convincingly to take the victory in 1h08:31, almost a minute and a half ahead of her pursuers. The Kenyans Beatrice Nyaboke Begi and Vivian Jerotich Kosgei, second and third, respectively, tried to chase the Ethiopian without success. Clara Simal from Madrid, from the Agrupación Deportiva Marathon, organiser of the race, was once again the first Spaniard to finish, repeating her ninth place in the general classification that she achieved in 2023.

The ProFuturo 5km race was also held today in parallel to the Movistar Madrid Medio Maraton. This charity event was born in 2016 with a clear objective: to run for education. Since then, it has taken to the streets of Madrid to celebrate a day full of sport and commitment focused on contributing to the ProFuturo educational programme, with the aim of continuing to bring the transformative power of education, innovation and technology to children in every corner of the planet.

The victory went to Claudia Moreno (20:15) in the women’s category and to Sergio Salinero (17:20) in the men’s category. The ProFuturo Race, one of the most popular and charity races on the calendar, raised €19,100, which will be donated to the digital education programme with which Fundación Telefónica and Fundación “la Caixa” contribute to closing the educational gap in isolated environments and those at risk of exclusion in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. Paralympic athlete Lorenzo Albaladejo, considered the best athlete with cerebral palsy in the history of Spain in sprint events, also completed the race.

The Movistar Madrid Half Marathon is the fastest half marathon in the city, awarded “Road Race Label” by the international federation World Athletics, which includes it in its official calendar of road races, and was named by the Madrid City Council as an “event of general interest for the city”, as it is one of the most emblematic and traditional races in the country.

The race is organised by Agrupación Deportiva Marathon, Atresmedia and Sport Life Ibérica, with the main sponsorship of Movistar and with the institutional support of the Madrid City Council and the Community of Madrid. Joma Sport is the technical sponsor and Garmin, AhorraMás, Rafaelhoteles, Alquiber, Deloitte, ElPozo Bienstar, Vitaldin Sport, Gourmet Latino, Oakberry and Physiorelax are collaborating.