The Nationale Nederlanden-San Silvestre Vallecana, founded in 1964 by Antonio Sabugueiro, will celebrate its sixtieth anniversary on December 31 of this year with 42,000 runners through the streets of Madrid and the unanimous recognition of the best Spanish athletes in history as “one of “the best ten kilometer races in the world.”
The race, with its usual start on Avenida Concha Espina and finish on Candilejas Street, in the case of the popular one, and inside the Vallecas stadium, in the international one, is one of the four ten-kilometer tests of all the world with the World Athletics gold certificate.
Big names in athletics
Some of the great names of Spanish athletics such as José Luis González, Martín Fiz, Fermín Cacho, Patricia Arribas, Ramiro Matamoros, Isaac Viciosa, Chema Martínez, Jesús España, Nuria Fernández, memoria Arroyo, Reyes Estevez, Jesús Ramos, Yago Rojo, Laura Priego and Laura Luengo attended the presentation after walking a few kilometers through the streets of Madrid.
José Luis González, world runner-up in the 1,500 meters in 1987 and double winner of the San Silvestre Vallecana, declared that running this event “means a lot.” “It is a race with many expectations and a lot of fans, with an unbeatable atmosphere. Running in Madrid with the people of Vallecas is a pleasure.”
Martín Fiz, marathon world champion in 1995, recalled his experience in the San Silvestre Vallecana and his victory in 1994. “It is a race that any professional athlete wants to run. When I won, I went to Vitoria and arrived home at ten past twelve at night. Everyone had had dinner and people couldn’t believe there would be a return. I jokingly said that it was a fake show.”
Fermín Cacho, Olympic 1,500 meters champion in Barcelona’92 and twice second in the San Silvestre, joked about returning and getting on the podium. “Why not go back and win it?” he asked.
There will also be a children’s race on the 28th
One of the stars in the women’s category of the next San Silvestre Vallecana will be the Spanish Laura Luengo, who two days ago recorded 2h22:31 in the Valencia marathon, improving the 2023 record of 2h25:35 by more than three minutes.
José Luis Martínez Almeida, mayor of Madrid, said that the San Silvestre Vallecana, which has run twice, “means a lot” to the city.
“One day I will go below 50 minutes, it is a personal improvement, but the most beautiful thing is to see thousands of people running through Madrid,” the mayor stressed.
Before the race on the 31st, the mini will be held on the 28th, in which for the second time the little ones will run with the official race t-shirt and receive a medal.
The San Silvestre Vallecana, founded by Antonio Sabugueiro, was held for the first time in 1964 with only 57 runners. The victory went to Jesús Hurtado. The race was the replica of what had been held since 1925 in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo to say goodbye to the year. In 1981 the women’s category was established and the first winner was the Norwegian Grete Waitz.
The race records, in both the men’s and women’s categories, are held by two African runners, the Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo (26:41) and the Kenyan Brigid Kosgei (29:54).
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