Bahrain's Kimutai and Yimer from Ethiopia, record-breaking 2023 Barcelona Marathon winners

Kenyan-born Bahraini Marius Kimutai won the men's category of the 2023 Zurich Barcelona Marathon this Sunday, completing the 42 km race in a record-breaking 2 hours, 5 minutes, and 6 seconds. 

"I didn't expect to win today because it was very competitive," Kimutai said. "I feel very happy and accomplished after all the work I did here in Barcelona to achieve my fastest time ever." 

Kimutai was exactly 47 seconds faster than Ethiopia's Yihunilign Agane, who previously held the record of the fastest Barcelona marathon runner. 

Othmane El Goumri from Morocco came in second place, 12 seconds after Kimutai, while Kenya's Kaan Kigen Özbilen came in third place after finishing in 2 hours, 5 minutes, and 38 seconds. 

The fastest Catalan was Carles Montllor, who completed the race in 2 hours, 25 minutes, and 11 seconds, coming in 20th place.

Jordi Madera from Granollers, near Barcelona, won the wheelchair user category once again. 

Fastest women

Zeineba Yimer Worku, from Ethiopia, was the fastest woman in the race, completing the marathon in 2 hours, 19 minutes, and 44 seconds.

"I am very happy to have won today in Barcelona," Yimer said. "I had very good feelings and I was able to give my best in a spectacular circuit."

Yimer was over 3 minutes faster than the previous record held by Meseret Gebre Dekebo, also from Ethiopia: 2 hours, 23 minutes, and 11 seconds. 

Selly Chepyego Kaptich from Kenya came in second place in the women's category after finishing the marathon in 2 hours, 20 minutes, and three seconds, while Kenyan-born Romanian Delvine Meringor won third place in 2 hours, 20 minutes, and 49 seconds. 

Over 11,000 runners

All in all, 11,450 runners took part in the 2023 edition of the race, almost as many people as before the pandemic. 

55% of this year's participants are from abroad, from 119 different countries, while 25% were women. Two of them aged 16 and 64, were hospitalized after experiencing cardiac arrests. 

The runners ran past some of the city's most emblematic landmarks including Gaudí's Sagrada Família, the Torre Glòries tower, or Arc de Triomf.