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.

Granollers Half Marathon
DateFebruary
LocationGranollers, Catalonia
Event typeRoad
DistanceMarathon
Established1981
Course recordsMen: 59:26
Kenya Samuel Wanjiru (2008)
Women: 1:10:24
Ethiopia Gete Wami (2006)
Official siteGranollers Half Marathon
Participants3,819 (2020)

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

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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 (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 (MAR) 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
30th 2016   Alex Korio (KEN) 1:01:01   Nancy Kiprop (KEN) 1:11:30
31st 2017   Mathew Kisorio (KEN) 1:01:30   Irene Pelayo (ESP) 1:12:11
32nd 2018   Alexander Mutiso (KEN) 1:01:24   Mercy Kipchumba (KEN) 1:13:22
33rd 2019   Abraham Kiptum (KEN) 59:58   Miriam Ortiz (ESP) 1:14:14
34th 2020   Stephen Mokoka (RSA) 1:01:28   Darya Mykhaylova (UKR) 1:12:39

References

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  1. ^ Hamlett, Alison (2008-10-13). Top 10 Spanish Races. Runner's World. Retrieved on 2012-02-12.
  2. ^ The Mini 2012 Archived 2012-09-08 at archive.today. Mitja Marató Granollers. Retrieved on 2012-02-12.
  3. ^ a b 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
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