Mariana Machado was the runaway winner of the senior title at the Portuguese Cross Country Championships at the Parchal Urban Park in Lagoa on Sunday (23) while world 1500m champion Isaac Nader was part of the victorious team in the mixed relay.
Machado won her fifth successive senior title at what also served as the test event for the SPAR European Cross Country Championships which takes place on 14 December, the fourth time Portugal will have held the championships which dates back to 1994.
Machado will be one of Portugal’s brightest hopes for an individual medal next month and the 25-year-old won the domestic title in gun-to-tape style, winning the senior women’s 7.47km in 25:33 by over 40 seconds from Laura Taborda in 26:18.
"A five-time champion? Above all, I feel immense pride. It’s a great pleasure to continue doing this discipline, which has given me so much experience and good moments. I believe it demonstrates my resilience and spirit of sacrifice because being consistent over the years is the most difficult thing in our sport," said Machado.
After taking a brace of medals at U20 and U23 level, Machado is getting ever closer to the medals at senior level on the continental stage. She finished fifth at the 2024 SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Antalya last December before improving to fourth in the 10km at the European Running Championships in Brussels-Leuven in April.
In the senior men’s 7.47km which was won by Kenya’s Victor Kimosop, who was competing for Lisbon-based club Benfica, in 21:56, Jose Carlos Pinto finished fourth overall and won the Portuguese title in the process ahead of last year’s winner Miguel Moreira, 22:14 to 22:19.
"The objective clearly isn't the national championship; it's the European Cross Country Championships and we'll see what happens. It could be something interesting, especially now that I'm starting with a little more experience than the competition because I already know the course and I think that could be decisive," said Pinto.
Pinto, who is coached by Gjert Ingebrigtsen, has been in excellent form this autumn, breaking the Portuguese 10km record last month in Norwegian soil with a 27:53 clocking in Hole.
Winning mixed relay return for Nader
In his first race on home soil since winning the 1500m title at the World Athletics Championships, Isaac Nader anchored Benfica to victory in the mixed relay.
It was essentially a prolonged victory lap for Nader who took up the running from his partner Salome Afonso, a double medallist at the 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships, with a clear-cut lead. Nader went on to anchor his side to victory by exactly one minute over Sporting Clube de Portugal whose team included world indoor 800m bronze medallist Patricia Silva.
The Portuguese Cross Country Championships were held over two days with veteran events taking centre stage on the first day. Among those who took part were 1987 world 5000m silver medallist Domingos Castro, who is also the President of the Portuguese Athletics Federation.
Castro, who ran in the men’s V60 race on the day of his 62nd birthday, said: “The course is very, very difficult. It will be a surprise for many athletes who perhaps aren't expecting such a challenging, very fast course, but with many twists and turns. It's a course worthy of true champions.”
Full results here
Photos courtesy of the Portuguese Athletics Federation
