Redaccion
Toni Gallego, Sports Councilor: «If the numbers are confirmed, we will reach 3,000 athletes, which will be a real success for the first year of the event»
Alicante, March 24, 2025.– The I Elche-Alicante Marathon has exceeded the organization’s forecasts and registrations, with eight months to go until the scheduled start on November 30 in the vicinity of the Altamira Palace in Elche, reaching 1,500 participants. Of that total, 750 are registered from outside the province of Alicante, including foreign athletes. Most of them come from Great Britain, Italy, and France. Registrations for the event, organized by the Montemar Athletic Club, can be formalized on the website maratonelchealicante.com.
In the case of Spain, registrations are closed from the provinces of Madrid -the majority-, Albacete, Almería, Barcelona, Vizcaya, Cáceres, Castellón, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Gerona, Guadalajara, Lérida, Murcia, La Rioja, Salamanca, Segovia, Seville, Toledo, Valencia, Valladolid, and Zaragoza. On an international level, in addition to those mentioned above, from Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States.
Toni Gallego, Sports Councilor of the Alicante City Council, highlighted that «it is a real success that expectations have been met so far in advance. If initially a total of 1,500 participants were considered, these data increase the forecasts to more than 3,000 participants, ensuring a resounding success, and confirming the success of the initiative, an example of the involvement and collaboration between the municipalities of Elche and Alicante».
The 42-kilometer route, practically flat and slightly downhill, is distributed as follows: eleven through the urban center of Elche, 20 kilometers in the stretch between both cities, and the last eleven through the urban center of Alicante, as explained by José Manuel Albentosa, director of the event, during the presentation of the race at the Alicante City Council. It was on October 11 and the mayors of Alicante and Elche, Luis Barcala and Pablo Ruz, respectively, emphasized the «new bond that, through sports, is established between both cities».
To the marketing plan for the promotion of the event, tourist packages will be added in the coming months to promote the event and guided tours of Elche and Alicante. The first details of the November 2025 marathon were announced by Barcala and Ruz at the International Tourism Fair (FITUR) in January 2024.
One of the curiosities of the ‘Elche-Alicante’ is that, along with Boston, it is the only marathon worldwide that has a start and finish in two different points. In the case of Boston, which takes place on April 25, it starts from Hopkinton.
International Half Marathon
One of the first benchmarks to assess the impact of a high-level athletic event in Alicante was seen on February 16 with the 29th Meridiano International Half Marathon & 10k Aguas de Alicante, also organized by Montemar. There were 5,300 athletes who participated, including those in the 10-kilometer race, setting a participation record. The impact reached 1.5 million, with an 80% hotel occupancy rate, and a significant impact on economic sectors such as hospitality and catering.
