Maria Forero and Mohamed Attaoui shared the victories on home soil at the Cross Ponte Romana in Lugo on Sunday (2).
On the road to the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa on 14 December, Forero won the senior women’s 5km in 16:27 by three seconds from Andrea Romero.
Forero eased to 5000m gold at the European Athletics U23 Championships in Bergen this July and the 22-year-old will be looking to win her second major title in this age-group category next month.
Forero is no stranger to success at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships. She made history by becoming the first Spaniard to win the U20 title in 2022 before winning silver in the U23 ranks behind Brit Phoebe Anderson in Antalya last year.
After an outstanding season on the track in the 800m with highlights including a fifth-place finish at the 2025 World Athletics Championships and victory at the European Athletics Team Championships on home soil, Attaoui demonstrated his endurance with victory in the senior men’s 5km in 14:05.
David de la Fuente and Victor Ruiz were second (14:08) and third (14:15) respectively with 2023 European indoor 800m champion Adrian Ben fourth in 14:17.
Kwizera outsprints Ndikumwenayo in Castellon
Rodrigue Kwizera outsprinted his training partner and clubmate Thierry Ndikumwenayo at the Cross Ciutat de Castellon on Sunday (2).
Kwizera, who lives and trains in Spain but still competes for Burundi, won the senior men’s 7.2km in 19:45 with European 10,000m bronze medallist Ndikumwenayo credited with the same time in second.
Beatriz Alvarez won the senior women’s 7.2km in 23:21 while European U18 2000m steeplechase champion Bakr El Asri and Carla Ferrara won the U20 races.
At the Cross Ciutat de Granollers on Sunday (2), 2016 European 5000m champion Ilias Fifa was the runaway winner in the senior men’s 7km in 20:37, winning by over half-a-minute.
Douae Ouboukir won the senior women’s 7km in 24:14 ahead of Great Britain’s 2016 Olympian Jessica Martin who is on the comeback trail after retiring from the sport in 2017.