FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tenth Anniversary Sahara Marathon Won In Record Time
Smara Refugee Camp, Algeria, Monday, February 22, 1300gmt
The tenth anniversary Sahara Marathon was won this morning, Monday, by Jon
Salvador of Spain, in a record time of 2.42.40.
Salvador, 43, from the Basque city of Bilbao has run the half-marathon
three times here in the past, winning twice, and finishing third. He only
decided 10 days ago to return to the event. "I had stopped training for the
event, but my local town hall decided to send me ten days ago. I paced one
of my colleagues, Teresa Pulido in the Amsterdam Marathon last October, and
surprised myself by running 2.32, so I decided to run the full marathon
here this time.
"It was very hot at the start, and there were some good Algerians in there,
and they went off really fast. But, having run the 'half' before, which is
the second half of the marathon course, I knew it was more difficult, so I
saved myself, and it paid off".
There was also a record entry of over 800 runners from 28 countries, for
the 10th anniversary of this extraordinary event. The race is run through
the deserts of western Algeria, between three refugee camps, housing up to
200,000 Saharawi people, exiled from their Western Sahara home since 1975.
Formerly Spanish Sahara, the territory was occupied by Morocco and
Mauretania, when the Spanish withdrew on the death of General Franco. A
freedom movement by the Frente Polisario drove out the Mauretanians, who
eventually went on to recognise the state of Western Sahara. But despite a
United Nations resolution in their favour, the Moroccans remain in control
of much of the Western Sahara, while an attempt to mount a referendum on
the future is in abeyance.
"There are many Basques here," said Salvador, "around 85 of us. We really
understand the suffering that the Saharawi people are going through. Yes,
the competition is important, but it's also important to tell the problems
that the people here are having. The two things go together".
Ends
###
|
