About 10,500 popular athletes will complete the best event poster in its 27 years
MADRID, 20 One. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The 2022 EDP Seville Half Marathon returns on January 30, starting at 9:00 a.m., on its traditional date after the last edition held in October last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with nearly 10,500 runners and the best participation in its 27-year history in terms of sporting level.
On the one hand, favoritism in the men’s category falls on the Kenyans David Ngure Irungu, Silas Kiprotich Kuriu and Sebastian Kimaru and the Ethiopian Gebrie Erikhun. Ngure Irungu achieved his personal best in Madrid in November, falling 21,097 meters below the hour, while Kiprotich Kuriu was able to run in 1h01:42 at the altitude of Nairobi.
The Spanish Houssame Eddine Benabbou also has options to fight for victory and achieve the best national record achieved in Andalusian territory. The man from Extremadura managed to run in Valencia in 1:02:01 in 2019, and was the first Spaniard to finish in Madrid in 2018 and 2021. Among those registered, there is also a name of his own who has achieved great success in Spanish territory: Frenchman Benjamin Choquert, champion of the duathlon world in Pontevedra and of Europe in Punta Umbría. Choquert accredits 61 minutes in the distance and 2h11 in marathon, being the fastest duathlete/triathlete in history in this distance.
Other illustrious athletes of continental stature such as the Portuguese Luis Saravia (1h02:47), the Austrian Peter Herzog (1h03:22) or the Frenchman Yohan Durand (1h03:43) also arrive in Seville with the clear objective of smashing their personal bests , as well as debutants Djilali Bedrani (France, 27’50 over 10 km), and his compatriots Jeffrey De Freitas and Le Déan Geoffrey, or the Swiss Alexandre Edward Jodidio. The Spaniard Alberto Sánchez also arrives in the Andalusian capital with the intention of improving his 1h03:39 achieved in Sagunto.
In the women’s category, the Spanish Meritxell Soler (1h13:13 in Granollers) and Maitane Melero Lacaisa (debut in the distance, with a best time of 32’47 over 10 km) will face the powerful Carolina Wisktrom and Julien Melody. Wisktrom is a Swedish athlete who has run a half marathon in 1h11:11 in Gdynia, and will be the rival to beat for the rest of the women. The gala Melody Julien with 1h12:51 arrives in a great moment of form and promises a nice duel to fight for her first victory in Seville. Another Frenchwoman, Pruvost Fanny Marthe (1:14:22) joins this bunch of top-tier runners.
The Seville EDP Half Marathon is the flattest half marathon of all those held in Europe, and on January 30 it is expected to break the current records of the event, set by the Italian Eyob Faniel in 2020 with 1h00:44, while that the best female record was achieved in 2019 by the Kenyan Ruth Waithera with 1h10:39.
The route continues with its start and finish at the roundabout of Buenos Aires, on the Paseo de Las Delicias, it is absolutely flat and leads the participants through the center of the city and through many of the most central streets of the historic center, highlighting the passing through the Torre del Oro, the Maestranza, Torneo, the Historical Round, the Encarnación Mushrooms, the Bell or Tetuán Street, the Plaza Nueva and the Town Hall, the Constitution Avenue, the Cathedral, María Luisa Park and Plaza de España, among other iconic places.