The Lisbon Marathon, which will take place on October 9, departing from Cascais, has officially sold out with six thousand participants registered, the Maratona Clube de Portugal (MCP) announced on Wednesday.
The Half Marathon, along with the non-competitive eight-kilometre Mini Marathon, which started on the same day at Ponte Vasco da Gama, finished as expected with 16,000 registrations.
“We have already exceeded 24 thousand participants, summing up the registrations for all events that will take place over the weekend. This figure sincerely pleases me and corresponds to the growth of participants that we had already registered before Covid-19,” emphasized MCP President Carlos Moya.
Almost 40% of participants are foreigners from more than 90 countries, especially France, UK and Spain, and 60% of registrants are men.
The marathon and half marathon are two events that World Athletics classifies as elite road races. This is a distinction that distinguishes the best racing in the world and is one of the “top five” most participated and most popular races in the country.
“We will welcome the largest number of foreign elite athletes ever. This record is already guaranteed,” said Carlos Moya, without adding details that will be revealed at the press conference about the race on October 7.