The latest hours of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s deliberations over whether to call early general elections have left the organizers of some of the most significant events on the running calendar on edge. The prospect that Spaniards will vote on the upcoming November 29 threatens races with such history and participation as the Seville Half Marathon (with 25,000 registered and registrations sold out months ago), the Jean Bouin (Barcelona’s oldest race, celebrating its 104th edition), the Córdoba Half Marathon, or the Elche-Alicante Marathon, whose second edition features a sizeable foreign contingent among the 4,000 runners expected to take part in its 42.195 kilometers.
What precedents do we have from similar cases? The 2019 election advance forced the Madrid Marathon to be held on a Saturday (pushing aside many foreign runners who had planned to arrive in Madrid that day). However, in the 2019 repeat election held on November 10, the Behobia-San Sebastián could indeed coexist with the polling stations.
We will see if there will finally be elections on November 29 (note that if it falls on the following Sunday it would coincide with the Valencia Marathon) and how this would affect the world of running.
