6 MARCH 2011: MARATO DE BARCELONA, SPAIN

Levy Matebo Omari, only 21, won with the 4th best time of the year so far, and only one second outside the course record established last year. Behind him 12564 runners finished the race (of 13062 starters and 15075 entrants). Foreign participation was 45%, with runners from 40 different countries.

Tens of thousands of people watched the passage of runners through the streets and 40 points of animation were dotted around an attractive course that started and finished in the avenue María Cristina, in front of the Montjuïc fountains, after passing by the main tourist sites of Barcelona.

Omari improved his personal record by more than four minutes. The Catalan Marc Roig was first Spanish national, in ninth. Visa problems prevented the participation of a group of Ethiopian runners, but the race was fast from the beginning thanks to pacemakers, Nicholas Korir, Edwin Kipyego, Mark Tanui and Gamal Belal Salem. They took a group of 11 runners through 10km in 29:59 and halfway in 1:03:59, with Kipyego leading the way.

At 30km there were still 8 runners together but after the pacing stopped at 31km Omari was left leading, passing through 35km in 1:45:59 and 40km in 2:00:55. Towards the end he paid for his solo efforts and lost the 5000 euro course record bonus by a couple of seconds. Roig, who had been training in Kenya was pleased with his new personal best and his final ninth position as the first Spaniard. Toni Bernadó from the tiny state of Andorra was seventh and met the London 2012 qualifying standard to set himself up for his fifth Olympics.

In the women's race the surprise winner was Josephine Ambjörnsson, a popular Swedish athlete who won her first marathon ahead of debutante Nuria Prieto from Madrid. The race suffered from the last minute absence of three Ethiopians who were expected to challenge the course record of 2:30:05. Ambjornsson said: "I ran the Marató de Barcelona for the first time last year and this year I came back and won. I can't still believe it, this is fantastic, I love this city".

MEN:
1  Levi Omari MATEBO          KEN  2:07:31
2  Joseph Kimeli LANGAT       KEN  2:10:04
3  Josphat YEGO                   KEN  2:10:41
4  Joash MUTAI                    KEN  2:13:44
5  Isaac KOSGEI                   KEN  2:14:42
6  Nathan Kimeli NAIBEL       KEN  2:14:57
7  Toni BERNARDO                  AND  2:17:16
8  Elias Rodrigues BASTOS     ESP  2:17:24
9  Marc ROIG                      ESP  2:18:05
10 Kennedy KIMUTAI        KEN  2:19:30
 
WOMEN:
1  Josephine AMBJORNSSON  SWE  2:45:31
2  Nuria Prieto PINEDO            ESP  2:56:59
3  Marth HALL                     GBR  2:57:51
4  Karsta PARSIEGLA               GER  2:59:14
5  Rosa Espachs OLIVERA           ESP  3:00:24
6  Florence AUDAIR                FRA  3:00:25
7  Anne ZIDERVELD                 NED  3:03:42
8  Silvia Tremoleda SERRANO       ESP  3:04:06
9  Theoni LOUVI                   GRE  3:04:31
10 Isabel Olivian MORENO          ESP  3:04:43

Source AIMS