The Zurich Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series Madridwhich encompass the distances of marathon, half marathon and 10k, cThey celebrate their 48th edition this Sunday with 13,210 foreigners, a record of 47,000 participants and a good list of Spanish athletes such as Águeda Marqués, Irene Sánchez Escribano, Yago Rojo, Carlos Mayo, Jesús Ramos or Alejandro Jiménez, who will try to confront the African ‘army’ led by Ethiopian athletes in all races.
One more year, Madrid is preparing to celebrate its great festival of popular athletics with numbers that are dizzying. This year there is a record participation with 47,000 people, two thousand more than in 2025, and 8,000 on the waiting list.
The distribution by distance is summarized in 15,000 for the marathon, 23,000 for the half marathon and 9,000 for the 10k with 29,610 men and 17,390 women. From these data, the growth in female participation stands out (37% of the total), especially in the 10k, in which it reaches 56%, being the Spanish race with the highest female participation at a mixed level. In a marathon it is 19% and in a half marathon it is 36%.
Among the participants are represented all the Spanish Autonomous Communities plus Ceuta and Melilla, with Spaniards making up 72% of the total registeredThe other 28% of the participants are the 13,210 foreigners who will start at one of the distances representing 113 countries, among which France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and the United States stand out as the most numerous.
In the marathon, in the women’s category, Victory is expected for the Ethiopian ‘army’ led by Zenebu Fikadu (2h24.43) along with Amente Sorome (2h24.45), Kena Girma (2h25.56) and Aynalem Kassahun (2h26.12).
It is also likely that an Ethiopian will be the one who raises his arms as champion in the long distance since three of the best times are credited by athletes from that African country: Betesfa Getahun (2h05:28), Adugna Takele (2h05:52) and Limenih Getachew (2h06:47). In front of them is the Kenyan Mike Kiptum Boit (2h06:08) and the Spanish Alejandro Jiménez (2h10:29), who hopes to surprise the African distance runners with a good position.
He half marathon will bring the Spanish duel between Isabel Barreiro (1h13:20) and María Lázaro (1h14:54) among the women while in the men’s category Carlos Mayo (59:39), the only athlete with an accredited time under one hour, will battle on the asphalt with his compatriot Jesús Ramos (1h02:14), the Ethiopian Mikiyas Barega (1h01:34) and the Kenyan Gideon Kiprop (1h02:50).
In the short race, the 10k, all eyes will be on Águeda Marqués (31:58) and Irene Sánchez Escribano (31:35) and in the shortlist of Spanish favorites for the podium with Adam Maijó (28:04), Yago Rojo (28:21), who last year was third in the marathon, and Adrián Ben (28:56).
This edition will also be the first time that the Madrid marathon is held as part of the ‘Classic European Marathons’ association (EMC), which encompasses eight of the most representative races in Europe, in an initiative that combines “sport, tourism and culture and supports integration between runners from all over the world.”
The Classic European Marathons bring together eight prestigious marathons in cities across the continent such as Rome (Italy), Madrid, Lisbon (Portugal), London (England), Copenhagen (Denmark), Vienna (Austria), Warsaw (Poland) and Frankfurt (Germany)