Cursa de Bombers

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Cursa de Bombers

The race passes through the Passeig de Colom
Date April
Location Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Event type Road
Distance 10 km
Established 1999
Official site Cursa Bombers

The Cursa de Bombers (English: Fireman's Race) is an annual road running race over 10 km which takes place in April in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The race holds IAAF Bronze Label Road Race status.[1]

History and course

The race was created in 1999 as a joint venture between the Bombers de Barcelona (Firemen of Barcelona) and Nike as a way of protesting against the Ayuntamiento de Barcelona (Barcelona City Council) for their refusal to respond to the firefighters' demands for improved working conditions.[2] The race has since grown significantly as both an elite and popular race, with major Spanish runners such as Marta Domínguez taking part and over 13,000 athletes running the course by the 2007 edition of the event.[3] A record of 18,014 people participated in the 2010 race – the year that it was given IAAF Bronze Label Road Race status.[1]

A view of Via Laietana near the end of the course

The course of the race is uphill for the first 4 km (2 mi) and has a downhill incline over the remaining 6 km (4 mi). The race has a looped circuit which is clockwise in direction and goes through a number of major roads in the city. Beginning on Avenida Marques de Argentera, near the Parc de la Ciutadella, the race heads west toward Passeig de Colom before going northwards along Avinguda del Paral·lel. The route turns eastwards at Calle Floridablanca and follows a straight path along Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes. The race begins to loop back to the start at this point, passing through Passeig de Sant Joan, Ronda de Sant Pere and finally onto Via Laietana[4]

The elite race has been dominated by Kenya runners, with all but two editions of the men's race having a Kenyan victor and half of the past women's race winners coming from the country. In spite of this, the race remains popular among the top domestic runners, such as Chema Martínez, Nuria Fernández, and Carles Castillejo, who have reached one of the top three spots.[1] The 2011 elite race was reduced to a sub-national level race as only those who were registered with the Catalan Athletics Federation were allowed to compete. With little competition, and hot weather to contend with, the winning times were among the slowest ever for the race.[5]

Past winners

The 2002 men's winner was Yonas Kifle.

Key:       Course record

Edition Year Men's winner Time (m:s) Women's winner Time (m:s)
13th 2011  Ayad Lamdassem (ESP) 30:02  Natalia Rodríguez (ESP) 35:25
12th 2010  Josphat Kiprono Menjo (KEN) 27:04  Jéssica Augusto (POR) 32:08
11th 2009  Josphat Kiprono Menjo (KEN) 27:32  Makda Harun (ETH) 32:39
10th 2008  Josphat Kiprono Menjo (KEN) 27:57  Eunice Jepkorir (KEN) 31:37
9th 2007  Peter Kamais (KEN) 27:57  Eunice Jepkorir (KEN) 31:49
8th 2006  Peter Kamais (KEN) 27:29  Beylanesh Fekadu (ETH) 31:55
7th 2005  Sahle Warga (ETH) 28:35  Irene Kwambai Kipchumba (KEN) 31:25
6th 2004  Edwin Cheruiyot Soi (KEN) 28:32  Irene Kwambai Kipchumba (KEN) 32:18
5th 2003  David Tuwei (KEN) 28:32  Marta Domínguez (ESP) 34:06
4th 2002  Yonas Kifle (ERI) 28:29  Filomena Chepchirchir (KEN) 33:10
3rd 2001  David Tuwei (KEN) 28:24  Taussi Juma (TAN) 32:33
2nd 2000  John Thuo Itati (KEN) 28:39  Leah Kiprono (KEN) 33:02
1st 1999  Cheren Simatwa (KEN) 28:24  Meritxell Martos (ESP) 36:04

Statistics

Winners by country

Country Men's race Women's race Total
 Kenya 10 6 16
 Ethiopia 1 2 3
 Spain 1 3 4
 Eritrea 1 0 1
 Portugal 0 1 1
 Tanzania 0 1 1

Multiple winners

Athlete Country Wins Years
Josphat Kiprono Menjo  Kenya 3 2008, 2009, 2010
David Tuwei  Kenya 2 2001, 2003
Irene Kwambai Kipchumba  Kenya 2 2004, 2005
Peter Kamais  Kenya 2 2006, 2007
Eunice Jepkorir  Kenya 2 2007, 2008

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Valiente, Emeterio (2010-04-19). Menjo blazes 27:04 10Km in Barcelona. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-04-23.
  2. ↑ La Carrera de los Bomberos recaudará fondos para la lucha contra el SIDA (Spanish). ADN.es (2010-03-03). Retrieved on 2010-04-29.
  3. ↑ La 'Cursa Bombers' de Barcelona bate su récord de participación este domingo con 13.000 participantes (Spanish). EuropaPress (2007-03-30). Retrieved on 2010-04-29.
  4. ↑ Informaté (Spanish). Cursa Bombers. Retrieved on 2010-04-29.
  5. ↑ Justribó, Joan (2011-04-11). La Bombers se abona al récord. Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved on 2011-04-16.

External links

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