Cursa de Bombers

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

Cursa de Bombers
The race passes through the Passeig de Colom
DateApril
LocationBarcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Event typeRoad
Distance10 km
Established1999
Course recordsMen: 27:04 (2010)
Kenya Josphat Menjo
Women: 31:25 (2005)
Kenya Irene Kwambai
Official siteCursa de Bombers

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 – edition which held IAAF Bronze Label Road Race status.[4]

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 slow decline 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[5]

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.[4] 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.[6]

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)
20th 2018  Marc Alcalá (ESP) 29:29  Marta Galimany (ESP) 33:54
19th 2017  Ibrahim Ezzaydouni (MAR) 29:30  Jess Andrews (GBR) 32:49
18th 2016  Ilias Fifa (ESP) 28:55  Marta Galimany (ESP) 34:38
17th 2015  Mohamed Zarhouni (ESP) 30:08  Lisa Ohberg (SWE) 36:59
16th 2014  Ángel Ronco (ESP) 30:14  Lidia Rodríguez (ESP) 34:23
15th 2013  Chema Martínez (ESP) 29:48  Judith Plá (ESP) 33:09
14th 2012  Ayad Lamdassem (ESP) 28:54  Judith Plá (ESP) 32:43
13th 2011  Ayad Lamdassem (ESP) 30:02  Natalia Rodríguez (ESP) 35:25
12th 2010  Josphat Menjo (KEN) 27:04  Jéssica Augusto (POR) 32:08
11th 2009  Josphat Menjo (KEN) 27:32  Makda Harun (ETH) 32:39
10th 2008  Josphat 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  Belaynesh Fikadu (ETH) 31:55
7th 2005  Sahle Warga (ETH) 28:35  Irene Kwambai (KEN) 31:25
6th 2004  Edwin Soi (KEN) 28:32  Irene Kwambai (KEN) 32:18
5th 2003  David Tuwei (KEN) 28:32  Marta Domínguez (ESP) 34:06
4th 2002  Yonas Kifle (ERI) 28:29  Flomena Chepchirchir (KEN) 33:10
3rd 2001  David Tuwei (KEN) 28:24  Taussi Juma (TAN) 32:33
2nd 2000  John Itati (KEN) 28:39  Leah Kiprono (KEN) 33:02
1st 1999  Cheren Simatwa (KEN) 28:24  Meritxell Martos (ESP) 36:04

Statistics

See also

References
  1. http://360runningbarcelona.com/es/fechas-de-la-cursa-de-bombers/ Fechas de la Cursa Bombers
  2. La Carrera de los Bomberos recaudará fondos para la lucha contra el SIDA Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine (in 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 (in Spanish). EuropaPress (2007-03-30). Retrieved on 2010-04-29.
  4. Valiente, Emeterio (2010-04-19). Menjo blazes 27:04 10Km in Barcelona. IAAF. Retrieved on 2019-04-03.
  5. Informaté Archived 2010-03-08 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish). Cursa Bombers. Retrieved on 2010-04-29.
  6. Justribó, Joan (2011-04-11). La Bombers se abona al récord. Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved on 2011-04-16.
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