Santander hosts, during 6 and 7 September, the 45th anniversary of the 100 Kilometers City of Santander, along with the 5th edition of the 24 Hours Road Race and the 8th 50 Kilometers City of Santander. It will also be the 19th championship of Cantabria of 100 km and 5th championship of Cantabria of 50 km.
These ultra-distance races are held with the collaboration of Unicaja and will bring together athletes from nine countries: Moldova, France, United Kingdom, Lithuania, Portugal, Israel, Canada, Hungary and Spain.
The event, organized by the C.D.B. Atletismo Ultrafondo Cantabria, also has the support of the City Hall of Santander (IMD), the Government of Cantabria (Directorate General of Sports), in addition to the participation of volunteers and the sponsorship of various Cantabrian companies.
The event has been officially presented this Wednesday at the City Hall of Santander, with the presence of the mayor, Gema Igual, accompanied by the Regional Minister of Sports, Luis Martinez, the Director General of Sports, Susana Ruiz, the Councillor for Sports, Beatriz Pellon, and the organizer of the race, Soto Rojas. On behalf of Unicaja, Rafael Alvarez, deputy regional Manager North, and Amparo Llata, head of Private Banking Cantabria, were present.
The start will be at 9:00 am from the Parque de la Vaguada de Las Llamas, green lung that connects with the Palacio de los Deportes and El Sardinero, an urban circuit of 1,824 meters. There, runners will have to complete no less than 54 laps plus 1,498 meters to reach the 100 km, and 27 laps plus 749 meters for the 50 km, in a course that combines beauty and hardness in equal parts.
As every year, the 100 km Committee will present the Award for Sporting and Human Values - Memorial Federico Marlasca Aja, as a tribute to the remembered broadcaster and lover of Cantabrian sport. On this occasion, the winners will be the former athletes José Luis Ibarrondo Albo and Antonio Beltrán González, in recognition of their career and example.
The event can be followed live on YouTube, thanks to the Simancas Sport broadcasting.
Leading names in ultra-distance athletics
Participants, as every year, include outstanding athletes. In the 100 km, the spotlight will be on the Cantabrian José Manuel Jara, Héctor Souto Pérez, José Manuel Navas, and Ruslan Oleksenko. In the women's category, Marta Camalat, from the Club Ultrafondo Cantabria, who was second last year, will participate, and next to her will also be Riovana Sandra Núñez Limachi, another strong candidate for the podium.
In the 50 km race, Javier Santos Martín, Spain 100 km champion in Santander, stands out, accompanied by the Palomera Svensson brothers -with a special role for Samuel, who has a time of 2h28 in the distance-, as well as runners such as Isaac Barragán, Pablo García, José Manuel Díaz or Raúl Velasco. In the women's category, Eva Pareja, Leticia Sevillano, Ana Cárcamo, Nuria Hernando, Esperanza López and the Polish Agata Halas stand out.
In the 24-hour road race, Javier Lozano, Pedro Serna, the Moldavian Víctor Scafaru, José Manuel Santamaría and Jaime Dominguez stand out, as well as Marcos Monzón, Francisco Lebrato, José A. Buendía and José Alves. In the women's category, the great protagonists will be the Hungarian Rebeka Paulovics, the German Ursula Jedele and the Spanish Marta Medina.
In the 12-hour race, the reigning champion José Ignacio Aguirre returns, accompanied by top-level runners such as César Gimeno and Roberto Alonso Camacho. The great favorite in women’s is Carmen María Pérez Serrano, also highlighting the British Steph McCall and runners like Sara Noriega and Marlene Saint Martin.
In the 6 hours, the attention is focused on Francisco M. Martínez, Óscar Buján, and Rubén del Caño and runners like Ester Escanciano, M. Carmen Botella, Amaia Aparicio and Laura Murcia.
The fastest races, the 3 hours, will have a large group of Cantabrians, including Manuel Santamaría, José María López, Carlos de Felipe, José A. Soto Condeque and Antonio Gallego, while in the women's category Irene Gómez, Ana Ruipérez and Marisol López will fight for the victory.
