Moroccan-Born Runner Equals Spanish Marathon Record in Valencia

Ben Daoud, followed by Majorcan coach Johny Ouriagly, clocked 2:07:03 last year. This year, he improved slightly by posting a performance of 2:06:34, thus becoming the first Spaniard and the twelfth in the race to cross the finish line. Of Moroccan origin, the athlete arrived in Algeciras at the age of 14 and stayed in a youth center in Bilbao.

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The second Spaniard, Abdelaziz Merzougui, also of Moroccan origin, who is participating in this marathon for the first time, finished the race in nineteenth place with a time of 2:08:51. Merzougui should have achieved a better time because he had trained well, explains his coach, Johny Ouriagly. But he was blocked in Morocco where he went last Monday to attend his father’s funeral, as Morocco had suspended its flights. He finally managed to take a flight from Casablanca to Paris, before joining Barcelona and Valencia. Merzougui has lived in Calvià for two years and has already won the half marathon and the 10km championships in the Balearic Islands this year.