The Mercè Race of the records

BarcelonaThis year's Cursa de la Mercè, which took place this Sunday through the center of Barcelona, has shattered several records. The first, attendance: there was unprecedented participation, with 17,200 registered runners, surpassing the 17,000 from 2013, which until today was the highest figure in its history. The second record was time: Moroccan athlete Douae Ouboukir set a new women's record for the Cursa de la Mercè Bimbo Global Race. She won with authority with a time of 32 minutes and 52 seconds, improving on the mark she herself had set in the last edition.

From the very first meters, the Moroccan runner made it clear that she did not want to speculate and positioned herself at the front of the race, taking advantage of the more open, central, and circular route that was inaugurated last year after more than two decades with the same layout. The ten-kilometer race started on Pau Claris Street and covered a large part of Barcelona's Eixample, then followed the Passeig de Sant Joan, the seafront, the Avinguda Paral·lel, and arrived at Plaça Catalunya. Ouboukir managed to maintain her lead and approached the final straight alone, crossing the finish line with a margin of more than a minute over her pursuers.

In the men's category, on the other hand, the record was never in danger. After the exhibition by the Australian James Whelan in 2025, when he shattered the race record and left it at 29 minutes and 4 seconds, the bar was set especially high. This year, the runner from Igualada, Roger Súria, won with a time of 29 minutes and 59 seconds.

The event finally featured the notable absence of the former elite athlete Reyes Estévez, a specialist in middle-distance running and chosen as the best Spanish athlete of the year in 1998, who at 50 years old planned to return to competition after his debut last year, but ultimately did not participate.