Marathon runners will take over Palma on Sunday

MORE than 3'200 athletes are expected to take part in the third TUI marathon on Sunday. And according to Baldomero Oliver, the sports director of the event, it is now one of the three top marathons in Spain, after those of Madrid and Barcelona. The race will start in the Paseo Sagrera at 9am. A shorter ten kilometre fun run will start one hour later.
Oliver said that 90 per cent of the athletes taking part are foreigners, and “there are representatives from 29 countries.
He went on to say that 82 per cent of the athletes were Germans.
Oliver added that there were more than 2'000 people involved in the organisation, including volunteers and police officers.
Francisca Bennassar, the deputy mayor in charge of tourism, said that she was proud that Palma should be the setting for such an important event.
Gonzalo Berlan, the manager of S'Institute, the social welfare services, said that the Balearic government supported this type of event which “helps promote tourism in the islands.” The favourites to win are Georg Brunner of Italy and Torsten Hirschberger of Germany for the men.
Three German women are expected to take the first places in their category: Annette Wolfrom, Gudrun Kurtz and Jutta Karsch.
Names tipped to win the semi marathon are Nino La Marchina, Britain's Robert Seddon and Runar Gilberg of Norway for the men, and Sonja Hausermann and Kathrin Knodel of Germany, and Jessica Gunnarson for the women. Other athletes taking part are Vicente Ogazón Marí, five times absolute champion of the Balearics, and Carlos Martínez Graus of CM Mallorca, running the marathon for the first time. Last year, 3'000 athletes took part.