The Villa de Gijón Cross Country Race celebrated its 46th edition this Sunday, 26 April, breaking participation records and once again receiving the support of Unicaja as the official financial sponsor. In the senior category, 1,200 athletes competed on this occasion, completing a 12-kilometre urban course, starting and finishing at the Velodrome of the Las Mestas Sports Complex in Gijón.
The race, organised by the Town Hall’s Municipal Sports Board and the Wolves-Born To Run athletics club, has established itself as one of the most important events on the running calendar in Asturias.
This road race, which marks the start of the season of major spring events in Gijón, attracts more participants every year, bringing together people of all ages in the city, who come from all over Spain, drawn by the great atmosphere and the chance to take part in this sporting activity.
Unicaja’s support for this initiative forms part of its sustainability policy and its firm commitment to promoting sport across different disciplines and in all its forms, with a particular focus on grassroots and adapted sport. As part of this commitment, the organisation also contributes to the promotion of healthy lifestyles and values associated with sport across all the regions where it operates, and in particular in Asturias, one of the organisation’s main regions of origin.
Record turnout
The latest edition of the Villa de Gijón Cross Country Race has attracted a total of 1,600 runners across its various categories, demonstrating once again the high level of public participation in this event.
The winner of the men’s open category has been Fernando Canellada (39:11), who was joined on the podium by Daniel Bayón (39:38) and Rodrigo Rodríguez (39:50), in second and third place respectively. In the women’s category, it has been athlete Jéssica López (44:15) who claimed victory, whilst Cristina Rozas (45:18) and Nadine López (46:34) took second and third place.
As for the junior categories, 350 runners competed, also at the Las Mestas sports facilities, over various distances ranging from 250 metres for the under-8s to 3,000 metres for the under-16s and under-18s. In addition, 50 children took part in the non-competitive ‘My First Race’ event, aimed at children born in 2021 or later.
