Granollers Half Marathon

The Granollers Half Marathon (Catalan: Mitja Marató de Granollers) is an annual road running competition over the half marathon distance (21.097 km) which takes place in February in the city of Granollers in Catalonia, Spain.

The race is organised by the Col·lectiu d'Atletes de Fons group and was first held in 1987. The course starts and finishes in Granollers and passes through Les Franqueses del Vallès and La Garriga. It is among the more popular half marathon events in Spain with around 10,000 runners taking part in the day's events..[1] In addition to the main half marathon race, there are two further events: a 5 km race for fun runners and "the mini", which hosts a range of short distances for children.[2]

In its early editions the race attracted a principally Spanish audience. The first African winner was Ezequiel Bitok in 1993 and his course record run of 1:01:48 hours marked the introduction of elite-level participation at the event. Alberto Juzdado became the first Spaniard to complete the course in under one hour and two minutes in 1998. In 2000, Esther Kiplagat of Kenya was the first foreign female to win at the event and she improved the course record by over two minutes.[3] Two consecutive wins by marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie in 2005/2006 brought a Spanish all-comers record time of 60:08 minutes and further recognition of the race's elite level status,[4] as did 10,000 m world champion Gete Wami's course record time of 1:10:24.2 hours in the women's race.[5] The 2004 Olympic marathon champion Stefano Baldini and two-time European champion Marta Domínguez won the men's and women's races in 2007.[3]

Kenya's Samuel Wanjiru became the first man to run a sub-60-minute half marathon in Spain at the 2008 Granollers race: his time of 59:26 minutes was the fourth fastest time in the world that year.[6][7] Both Wanjiru and Domínguez claimed their second Granollers titles the year afterwards.[8] In 2012, Catalonia's Carles Castillejo became the first Spanish male winner since 1999 by defeating world record holder Patrick Makau.[9]

Past winners

Haile Gebrselassie had back-to-back wins in 2005 and 2006.
Spain's Marta Domínguez is a two-time women's winner.
Kenyan Samuel Wanjiru set a Spanish all-comers record in 2008.

Key:       Course record

Edition Year Men's winner Time (h:m:s) Women's winner Time (h:m:s)
1st 1987  Rafael Garcia (ESP) 1:05:45  Joaquina Casas (ESP) 1:17:34
2nd 1988  Emiliano Garcia (ESP) 1:05:21  Marina Prat (ESP) 1:17:05
3rd 1989  Alfonso Abellán (ESP) 1:04:50  Carmen Brunet (ESP) 1:16:45
4th 1990  David Long (GBR) 1:04:39  Marina Prat (ESP) 1:14:28
5th 1991  Benito Ojeda (ESP) 1:05:59  Elisenda Pucurull (ESP) 1:16:33
6th 1992  Roger Rivet (FRA) 1:04:22  María Luisa Muñoz (ESP) 1:17:27
7th 1993  Ezequiel Bitok (KEN) 1:01:48  María Luisa Muñoz (ESP) 1:14:48
8th 1994  Barnabas Korir (KEN) 1:03:46  Nuria Pastor (ESP) 1:16:22
9th 1995  Benedict Ako (TAN) 1:02:56  Cristina Nogue (ESP) 1:18:33
10th 1996  Benedict Ako (TAN) 1:02:08  Josefa Cruz (ESP) 1:14:06
11th 1997  Jose Andrés Pérez (ESP) 1:03:09  Josefa Cruz (ESP) 1:15:23
12th 1998  Alberto Juzdado (ESP) 1:01:50  Josefa Cruz (ESP) 1:15:15
13th 1999  Jose Andrés Pérez (ESP) 1:03:29  Josefa Cruz (ESP) 1:16:22
14th 2000  Philip Kirui (KEN) 1:01:08  Esther Kiplagat (KEN) 1:11:57
15th 2001  David Kiptoo (KEN) 1:04:34  Olga Planas Ferrer (ESP) 1:23:19
16th 2002  Paul Kanda (KEN) 1:03:08  Eva Sanz (ESP) 1:12:38
17th 2003  Benson Cherono (KEN) 1:03:25  Kenza Wahbi (KEN) 1:15:01
18th 2004  Aziz Driouche (MAR) 1:03:08  Anne Kosgei (KEN) 1:12:00
19th 2005  Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) 1:01:33  Gladys Cherono (KEN) 1:13:26
20th 2006  Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) 1:00:07.6  Gete Wami (ETH) 1:10:24.2
21st 2007  Stefano Baldini (ITA) 1:03:10  Marta Domínguez (ESP) 1:11:23
22nd 2008  Samuel Wanjiru (KEN) 59:26  Rahab Ndungu (KEN) 1:11:20
23rd 2009  Samuel Wanjiru (KEN) 1:01:13  Marta Domínguez (ESP) 1:10:54
24th 2010  Robert Cheruiyot (KEN) 1:02:02  Joyce Chepkirui (KEN) 1:12:58
25th 2011  Erick Kibet (KEN) 1:03:25  Ruth Matebo (KEN) 1:14:26
26th 2012  Carles Castillejo (ESP) 1:02:37  Beatrice Jepchumba (KEN) 1:12:42
27th 2013  Stephen Kiprotich (UGA) 1:01:15  Jebichi Yator (KEN) 1:14:24
28th 2014  Wilson Kipsang (KEN) 1:01:18  Faith Jeruto (KEN) 1:14:07
29th 2015  Wilson Kipsang (KEN) 1:02:39  Olha Kotovska (UKR) 1:13:21

References

  1. ↑ Hamlett, Alison (2008-10-13). Top 10 Spanish Races. Runner's World. Retrieved on 2012-02-12.
  2. ↑ The Mini 2012. Mitja Marató Granollers. Retrieved on 2012-02-12.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Civai, Franco & Vázquez, Gerardo (2012-02-06). Granollers Half Marathon. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2012-02-12.
  4. ↑ Gebrselassie shines in Granollers Half Marathon - 61.33. IAAF (2005-02-06). Retrieved on 2012-02-12.
  5. ↑ Valiente, Emeterio (2006-02-06). Gebrselassie takes comfortable Half Marathon win in Granollers in 60:08. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-02-12.
  6. ↑ Valiente, Emeterio (2008-02-04). Wanjiru takes overwhelming 59:29 Half Marathon win in Granollers. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-02-12.
  7. ↑ Half Marathon 2008. IAAF (2011-01-04). Retrieved on 2012-02-12.
  8. ↑ Valiente, Emeterio (2009-02-02). Wanjiru takes overwhelming Half Marathon win; Domínguez PB in Granollers. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-02-12.
  9. ↑ Valiente, Emeterio (2012-02-06). Castillejo upsets Makau at Granollers Half Marathon - Spanish weekend round-up. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-02-12.
List of winners

External links