The Movistar Madrid Half Marathon and the ProFuturo Race were officially presented today in the Auditorium of the Telefónica District's Central Building as part of Telefónica's Centenary celebrations. This will be a historic edition in which participation records have been broken in both events with a total of 23,000 runners, 21,000 in the authentic Madrid half marathon, which sold out a fortnight ago, and which counts with two of the best athletes in history as honoured runners in this edition: the Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie and the Portuguese Rosa Mota. Gebrselassie will run the 21,097 metres of the renovated route through the streets of the centre of the Spanish capital this Sunday at 9am (Carrera ProFuturo) and 9:15am (Movistar Madrid Medio Maraton). Rosa Mota will take the start in the ProFuturo Race.

The official presentation also marks the start of the Runner's Expo today, Thursday 4 April from 1pm to 8pm, and Friday and Saturday from 10am to 8pm non-stop in the Telefónica District, in the Services Building, where participants will pick up their race bibs and runner's bag, and where the ProFuturo Kid's Races will also take place on Saturday between 5pm and 6pm. These Children's Races will bring together 500 young athletes, from babies to 14 year old boys and girls.

The event, presented by Chema Martínez, Movistar's athlete ambassador, and the journalist Lourdes García Campos, was also attended by Sonia Cea, head of the Sports Delegate Area of the Madrid City Council; Alberto Tomé, Director General of Sports of the Community of Madrid; Rafael Fernández de Alarcón, Global Marketing Director of Telefónica; Magdalena Brier, general director of ProFuturo; Eduardo Ajuria, president of the Agrupación Deportiva Marathon (organiser of the race); Isidro Arranz, president of the Federación Madrileña de Atletismo; the double world marathon champion Abel Antón as ambassador of Joma Sport; and Mónica del Arco, of Joma Sport.

As part of ProFuturo's "Runners with a cause" initiative, runners Lorenzo Albaladejo and Álex Roca also took the floor to announce their participation this Sunday in the race and to highlight the organisation's commitment to make the Movistar Madrid Medio Maraton and the ProFuturo Race two totally inclusive races. Albaladejo already participated in the last edition and is considered the best athlete with cerebral palsy in the history of Spain in athletics. Álex Roca is an athlete affected by cerebral palsy and a physical disability of 76%, and has managed to finish a marathon, being a great reference of personal and sporting improvement worldwide.

The Portuguese Rosa Mota, honoured in this edition of the Movistar Madrid Half Marathon, has been gold medallist in the Olympic Games, World champion and European marathon champion and, as well as being an icon of the incorporation of women into the world of sport in the 20th century, she continues to run and break world records in 10 km and half marathon in her age category (over 65 years old). "I keep running because I still feel I can be a champion, a champion of myself. It's been many years now, but I'm still having fun. On Sunday I'm going to run the ProFuturo Race, because running is a passion, I don't have Facebook or social networks, but thanks to running I make friends, and I continue to do so, it's like my social network...", said the Portuguese marathon runner.

The Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie has become an international ambassador of the race and will be on the starting line of the Movistar Madrid Medio Maraton on Sunday. Gebrselassie is a true legend of athletics and Olympic sport, thanks to his two gold medals in 10,000 metres, his six medals in World Championships (four of them gold), and he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports in 2011. He was also the first man to run sub 2h04 in a marathon. The runner with the "eternal smile" is an institution in Africa and wanted to join the Telefónica Centenary celebrations: "I am very grateful for this tribute. I started running as a child because my school was 10km from home, and I would run there and back. Every day it's like running the Movistar Madrid Medio Maraton to get there and back... Running has become an essential part of modern life. We need to eat, sleep and also run to survive. Life used to be an exercise in itself, but with today's conveniences we have become more sedentary... And that's why we have started running on a massive scale. Also, as far as the elite are concerned, we are very close to going under 2 hours in a marathon, we are still breaking limits. Probably in a couple of years or even sooner we can achieve it. With the new shoes the athletes are flying", said the Ethiopian during the presentation.

In addition to these great figures in the history of athletics, there will be a large group of African runners who will fight for victory and will try to beat both the men's and women's records of the race. In the men's category, the Kenyan Cleophas Kibet Kandie, who has a time of 59:18 over the distance, stands out, although he will have tough competition from his compatriots Mike Kipkorir, Peter Kibui Wangari and the debutants Amon Kiptoo and Esphond Cheruiyot, or the very young Ugandan Ezekiel Mutai (1h00:43), as well as the Ethiopians Abe Gashahun Tilahun (59:46) and Tadele Demissie Yimer. Spain's Ayad Lamdassem (1h01:21) will be the European athlete with the best chance of finishing in the top positions.

In the women's race, Ethiopia's Aberash Shilima Kebeda is the main favourite (1h07:28 in the half marathon and 31:36 in the 10km recently achieved in Valencia), although Kenya's Vivian Jerotich Kosgei will try to achieve her first great international record in Madrid this Sunday and together with her compatriots Beatrice Nyaboke Begi and Jackline Chelal will try to get on the podium. Uganda's Annet Chemengich Chelangat (1h10:16) will try to spring a surprise and improve her personal best, as will Kenya's Carolyne Jepchumba Biwott, who is making her debut over the distance. Ethiopia's Meaza Hasen Mohammed and Mexico's Citlali Cristian Moscote (who has run the Zurich Marathon of Seville in 2h24), are also in the group of women who aspire to be in the top positions, as is Spain's Clara Simal, from the Agrupación Deportiva Marathon (ADMarathon), the organising club of the race.

In terms of participation figures, the increase in the number of women at the start line (26.3% of the total) and the number of foreign runners (27.7%) stands out, which in both cases is an all-time record.

IMPROVED COURSE

The Movistar Madrid Half Marathon, after a sustained growth in the last editions after the pandemic, has even surpassed its historical record of participation, and a total of 21,000 runners will take on the 21,097 metres on 7 April in one of its most special editions, coinciding with the Telefónica Centenary celebrations. The Runner's Expo will be located on the 4th (from 1pm to 8pm), 5th and 6th April (from 10am to 8pm) in the Telefónica District, in the Services Building, where participants will pick up their race bibs and runner's bag, and where the Kids Races will take place on Saturday 6th April. Registration for these Kids races is now open at www.carrerafundacionprofuturo.com.

Furthermore, the course of this 2024 edition has been improved to make it even faster and more monumental than in previous years, although it maintains its start and finish line in Paseo de la Castellana and Paseo de Recoletos, respectively. The final part of the race runs along the Gran Vía and has a very favourable profile. In the last years up to 8 athletes have already managed to go under the hour in its 21,097 metres. There will also be more entertainment points for runners and spectators.

PROFUTURO RACE

At the same time, on Sunday 7 April, the ProFuturo 5 km race will take place. The ProFuturo Race was born in 2016 with a clear objective: to run for education. Since then, it has taken to the streets of Madrid to celebrate a day full of sport and commitment focused on contributing to the ProFuturo educational programme, with the aim of continuing to bring the transformative power of education, innovation and technology to children in every corner of the planet.

The ProFuturo Race celebrates its eighth edition this year, consolidating its position as one of the most popular charity races held in Madrid, and is held annually to raise awareness of the importance of ensuring quality education in the world's most vulnerable schools. The host is ProFuturo, the programme of educational innovation with technology launched by Fundación Telefónica and the "la Caixa" Foundation to reduce the educational gap in vulnerable environments in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. Its intervention model is based on the evidence of impact provided by continuous monitoring processes, studies and evaluations.

ProFuturo uses innovative teaching methodologies to help teachers and students develop skills to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The programme works with other institutions and companies and aims to create a large international network of teachers who teach, learn and share knowledge to achieve, together, a better education in the world.

The Movistar Madrid Medio Maraton is the fastest half marathon in the city, awarded the "Road Race Label" by the international federation World Athletics, which includes it in its official calendar of road races, and was named by the Madrid City Council as an "event of general interest for the city", as it is one of the most emblematic and traditional races in the country.

The race is organised by the Agrupación Deportiva Marathon, Atresmedia and Sport Life Ibérica, with the main sponsorship of Movistar and with the institutional support of the Madrid City Council and the Community of Madrid. Joma Sport is the technical sponsor and Garmin, AhorraMás, Rafaelhoteles, Alquiber, Deloitte, ElPozo Bienstar, Vitaldin Sport, Gourmet Latino, Oakberry and Physiorelax are collaborating.