Spain’s Marta Serrano opened her cross country season with a second-place finish in the Cross Internacional de San Sebastián, a World Athletics World Cross Country Tour Silver event, on Sunday (2).
Serrano finished second in the senior women’s 6.9km in 23:17 in a race won by fellow steeplechase specialist Celeste Biwott from Kenya in 23:09 with fellow Spaniard Lucia Rodriguez third in 23:28.
While Serrano took the domestic plaudits in San Sebastián, she is likely to focus her attention on the U23 race at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa in neighbouring Portugal on 14 December.
Serrano is yet to win an individual medal on her two previous appearances at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships but the 22-year-old, whose father Antonio won individual bronze in the inaugural championships in 1994, has won bronze and silver medals respectively in the 3000m steeplechase at the last two European Athletics U23 Championships.
In the senior men’s 6.9km which was won by Kenya’s Titus Kiprotich in 19:25, Ireland’s Nick Griggs took the continental plaudits in fifth in 19:49, one place and three seconds ahead of fellow Irishman Cormac Dalton.
Griggs will be aiming for his fourth successive individual medal at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships after winning silver behind Great Britain’s Will Barnicoat in his first appearance in the U23 race last December in Antalya.
Yahya Aouina El Kabbouri was the leading Spanish finisher in the men’s race in ninth in 20:17.
The Cross Internacional de San Sebastián is one of the longest running fixtures on the cross country circuit with a history dating back to 1956.
Notable winners have included the likes of Emil Zatopek (1958), Mamo Wolde (1963-64, 1967), Carlos Lopes (1976), Haile Gebrselassie (1993) and Zersenay Tadese (2003, 2006) on the men's side and Carmen Valero (1974-77), Rosa Mota (1982-84) and Derartu Tulu (1996-97) on the women's side.
Wins for Parolini and Taborda at the Cross della Valsugana
At the Cross della Valsugana, a World Athletics World Cross Country Tour Bronze event, in Levico Terme on on Sunday (2), Sebastiano Parolini won the senior men's 8km.
Parolini, who ran the first leg of Italy's gold medal-winning team in the mixed relay at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Antalya last December, took the individual plaudits in 23:27, winning by one second from Italian teammate Abderrazzak Gasmi.
Portugal's Laura Taborda dominated the senior women's 8km, winning by almost four minutes in 27:48.
Lucia Arnoldo, a gold medallist in the team race at the recent World Mountain Running Championships, prevailed in the U23 women's 6km in 21:21.