Two of the most important popular races in Spain are held this weekend in Jaén and Valencia. The organizers of both 10 kilometer events have encountered a problem that is not unexpected, because they saw it coming before Christmas, but which has surprised thousands of runners. Both races have been affected by the Red Sea crisis in order to receive the t-shirts given to the participants in time. The Night of San Antón, which will be celebrated on Saturday (8:00 p.m.), received the 12,000 t-shirts on Wednesday, but is still waiting for the medals for those who cross the finish line and some backpacks to arrive. The 10K Valencia Ibercaja, scheduled for Sunday (9:30 a.m.), has not had the same luck and will have to send their gift to those registered when the container with the 14,000 garments arrives at its destination.
The economy of the entire planet is being altered by the blockage that has occurred at the entrance to the Suez Canal, through which 12% of world trade flows. This huge traffic jam has been caused by attacks and threats made by Houthi rebels from Yemen with the intention of obstructing the flow of trade in this key point of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The Night of San Antón has been barely saved. The race, very popular because the public illuminates the runners with torches, has the t-shirts since this Wednesday and hopes to also have the medals and backpacks in time. This shipment has already arrived at the port of Valencia and, according to the organization's forecasts, this Thursday it should leave from Barcelona, where several vans will be prepared to transport the merchandise to Jaén.
“We have been saved, but the order should have arrived at the end of December and we are on January 10, three days before the race,” says Aarón de la Cuadra, technical manager of the Night of San Antón, a race that On Saturday, it will bring together renowned athletes such as Mo Katir, the 5,000m world runner-up who has just finished second on the last day of 2023 in the San Silvestre Vallecana. The Muleño will face the Kenyan Edward Zakayo and notable compatriots such as Fernando Carro, Dani Arce, Sergio Paniagua or the brand new Spanish marathon record holder, Tariku Novales. While, among women, the favorites are the Ethiopians Tigist Gezahan and Alemaz Samuel, who will face the Spanish Carla Gallardo, Carolina Robles, Naima Ait Alibou, Fátima Ouhaddou or Majida Mayouf, who, like Tariku, also broke the record for Spain marathon in December.
The 10K Valencia, on the other hand, did not arrive on time. “It has not taken us by surprise, we have known it since November. This problem is a consequence of Hamas' attacks on Israel, a conflict that has been expanding until the Houthis have decided to attack and threaten merchant ships,” says Álex Aparicio, the organizer of the race that this week had to appease those runners who did not understand that this is the consequence of a greater cause. A conflict that is affecting trade around the world and that has led some shipping companies to make the decision to divert their routes and take them around the entire African continent, doubling the Cape of Good Hope, to reach Europe as soon as possible.
Aparicio has prepared an alternative plan that consists of distributing the t-shirts as soon as they arrive, days after the race, in various parts of Valencia, the province and several Spanish cities. “We bought the shirts from Mizuno (a company based in Osaka, Japan) and they should have arrived at the end of November, but there are thousands of cargo ships anchored in the Indian Ocean, at the gates of the Red Sea, and it has been impossible. We are a tiny part of that problem. Our shipment is 300 boxes that go inside one of the 500 containers on that ship.”
The 10K Valencia and Mizuno have asked for forgiveness, understanding and patience through a statement. That said, Aparicio focuses on sports. At the start will be one of the best road runners in the world, Jacob Kiplimo. The Ugandan has the world record for the half marathon and 15 kilometers, and also wants the 10 km, achieved by Rhonex Kipruto (26m24s) in Valencia, in this same test, in 2020. But, in addition, the organization assures that the Kenyan Agnes Yebet Ngetich is coming for Yalemzerf Yehualaw's world record (29m14s achieved in Castellón in 2022), and Abdessamad Oukhelfen and Águeda Marqués will try to get closer to the national records of Toni Abadía (27m48s) and Paula Herrero (31m23s). “Show must go on”Aparicio jokes.
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