Martínez eyes a second European gold – European Athletics (EAA) – News

Spain's leading Marathon runner Chema Martínez has given the circuit that will stage the event at this summer's European Athletics Championships in Barcelona a big thumbs up.

The Championships will be held in the Catalan city between July 26 – August 1 and the men's Marathon will take place on the final day.

"I really like it (the circuit) a lot, it's great," commented Martínez.

"If you run at full speed, you notice a slight incline, but it's my intention to run the Marathon circuit as often as possible to get familiar with every single inch of it. The more often I run it, the better, even if it is 20 times."

Martínez will be aiming for a medal at his third consecutive European Athletics Championships.

He famously won the 10,000m in 2002, outsprinting Germany's Dieter Baumann down the home straight at the end of an enthralling race.

The situation was reversed four years ago when it was Martínez who was outsprinted, this time by Baumann's compatriot Jan Fitschen, and the Spaniard had to settle for the silver medal over 25 laps of the track.

He also competed in the Marathon in Göteborg but was forced to drop out and in Barcelona he wants to make amends for this blot on his racing record.

"I'm going for gold, but if somebody assured me of a medal right now, I would not refuse the offer. There will be more than only one athlete fighting for the victory, but I feel great and my preparation has been going very well so far. So far, I have been able to beat all the rivals that I will face at the Europeans. Right now, I'm leaving them all behind", said a confident Martínez, whose personal best of over 26.2 miles is 2:08.09.

He was also the first European home in the Marathon at last summer's World Championships in Berlin, where he finished eighth.

"The expected heat and humidity of the race means that I think runners will be a little cautious during the first half. I would expect a winning time in the region of 2:10 to 2:11."

The Barcelona 2010 Marathon will be contested over four 10km laps, taking in some of the most historic aspects of the city, although very few competitors are likely to be thinking about sightseeing.

The circuit passes by some of the most important sights of Barcelona, such as the Arc de Triomf, Plaça Catalunya, Casa Batlló, Monumental, the towers of the Port Olímpic and the Columbus Monument (Colon). As Martínez noted, the circuit is basically flat with a variation in altitude from six to 27 metres above sea level.

  European Athletics (EAA) – News