European Athletics's new initiative, which aims to gather pro road running stars combined with recreational runners, started well in its journey. Leuven, a historic Flemish city, hosted a very successful event and completed 10K, half and full marathons in two days with a good atmosphere. Both marathon champions overcame turbulent seasons as they celebrate emotionally their sweet victories.
The marathon races were won by emotional runners from Italy and Spain, both of which have North African origins. In the women's race, Fatima Zahra Ouhaddou won an impressive victory over her teammate Majida Mayaouf, the biggest victory in her career. She changed her allegiance three years ago as convincing a victory for the first time to Spain after her heartbreaking efforts in Budapest 2023 and Rome 2024. The Moroccan-born Ouhaddou did not prepare fully because of the fasting in the holy month of Ramadan that ended just two weeks ago, but her night-time works paid off in the race. Even though she tumbled very badly in the 25K water station, she reacted quickly, could stick with a lead group there and focused on finishing well. Fatima Ouhaddou opened the gap over 25 seconds between Mayaouf, who finished second, and Israel's Lonah Salpeter came third after she denied a last-second gasp by her teammate Maor Tiyouri.
Another hard worker, Italian Ilias Aouani was crowned as men's marathon champion to beat a strong Israeli contingent in Leuven. Aouani performed a good race plan and concluded it with a strong attack. The 29-year-old Italian, who missed the Olympics last year due to lack of preparation, bounced back into the course. Aouani doubled Italian joy after superstar Nadia Battocletti's 10K win earlier.
France enjoyed a highly successful event in Leuven as they were crowned four times in the men's side. Jimmy Gressier secured half marathon victory by clocking a sub-one-hour mark, and Yann Scrubb, former European Cross champion, grabbed 10 kilometres road title. French squad claimed the team titles for both events, half marathon and 10K.
The championships were organized in a new format for open races, which allowed non-professional runners to contribute to their respective nations' overall ranking. In the open race classification, the top 25 finishers are counted for "Open Team category" rankings, an innovative format for engaging the fans.
