The 2019 Global Run event, the Barcelona Half Marathon, recently took place on Feb. 10 with Global Ports Holding (GPH) as the main sponsor of the annual event.

It brought together more than 19,000 participants from 103 countries to run, according to a press release.

This year’s event marked both the highest ever number of foreign runners (8,323) and countries represented (103). 44% of athletes came from outside Spain, with the most represented countries being France (1,822), the UK (1,334), Italy (785) and Germany (742). Other countries represented from further afield included Costa Rica, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Cameroon, Malaysia, Mauritius, the Virgin Islands and even runners hailing from Antarctica.

Eric Kiptanui won the men’s run with a time of 61:04, and the favorite in the women’s category – Ethiopian runner Roza Dereje – won with a time of 01:06:00, beating her personal best by a minute.

The first man and woman to pass the 5km intermediate line were awarded a Pullmantur Cruises vacation by GPH and GPH CEO Emre Sayin presented the awards to eventual winners in conjunction with the Spanish authorities. 

“We are delighted that this year’s Global Run was such a success and it was a truly global event with participation from over 100 countries,” said Sayin. “We welcome millions of cruise passengers to Barcelona every year and it is fantastic that so many people have had the opportunity to experience this wonderful city during this event. Our Global Run initiative is an ongoing commitment, as the world’s largest cruise port operator, to promote cross-cultural understanding in the locations in which we operate, and we are proud to continue to support this initiative.”