Seville 5k Breakfast Run, 18th February 2023

At time of writing, parkrun has still not made its way to Spain. This mattered not to José Gallego Parilla, who lined up at 9am on Saturday morning to take part in the Seville 5K ‘Breakfast Run’.

Racing proudly in his Claremont vest for the first time in his home country, José had this to say about his experience:

“The Zurich Seville Marathon is one of the most important marathons in Europe and apparently the flattest one. This XXXVIII edition served as the main gateway for Spanish athletes to the Olympic Games.

The city was buzzing with over 13,000 marathoners from various countries around the globe. Being in the city and not taking part in any of the events was almost impossible for me. So, I signed up for the “5k breakfast run,” a short running event that took place the day before the marathon.

The 5k race started from the charming María Luisa park and finished after crossing the entire Spanish Square, one of the most beautiful places in the city and the location where part of Star Wars: Episode II was filmed.

Running in a flat and historic area that is usually not empty was amazing. There were 656 participants in the 5k event, with the special participation of the city’s mayor and the runner Martín Fiz, the only athlete in the world who has managed to win in six Major Marathons in the Master 50 category.

My time was 00:25:55, and I finished in 233rd position. It is surprising, but after eight years of living far from Andalusia, the hot Sevillian winter was harder than I expected for running.

However, this was not an impediment to performing an explosive final sprint! Overall, the experience was beautiful. Running with the Claremont blue, enjoying the amazing atmosphere, and having my family at the finish line was a blast!”