In the Patio de Luces of the Provincial Council of Almeria took place this Thursday morning the presentation of the XI edition of the Provincial Council of Almeria’s Circuito Provincial de Carreras Populares, an event that brings physical activity and healthy lifestyle habits to all the regions and that this year will have an attractive calendar with 18 races in different municipalities from April to November 2024. The organisation expects to surpass this year the 4,000 registrations of the last edition of the Circuit.
The event was attended by the vice-president and Provincial Councillor for Sports, Healthy Life and Youth, José Antonio García; the provincial delegate of the Andalusian Athletics Federation, Roberto Izquierdo; and the athletes Mohamed Koula, winner in the male category of last year’s circuit, and the athletics champion, Emilia Paunica. Numerous athletes, mayors and councillors of the host municipalities and the sponsors of the competition were also present.
The vice-president emphasised the open and participative nature of this sporting event, which is attractive to both experienced runners and those who are just starting out in this sport. «If I had to explain our provincial sports plan or the objectives of the Provincial Council’s sports area for the people of Almeria, the quickest and most intuitive way would be our Popular Races Circuit, which in a transversal way achieves all the objectives we have set for ourselves», said García.
In this sense, García reminded that these objectives that are consolidated with this Circuit include «promoting sport at school age, sport as a social backbone and integration, as a healthy way of life, as a tool against depopulation or to value our tourist and sporting resources», and he thanked all the sponsors, volunteers and other collaborators for their involvement in this initiative.
For his part, Roberto Izquierdo thanked the Provincial Council for the support it has given to this event because «we set out more than ten years ago to create a provincial circuit that did not exist and now we can say that this circuit is one of the most important in Andalusia in terms of number of participants and races. It is an added value to this event that stands out not only at provincial level but also in Andalusia».
Last year’s champion, Mohamed Koula, emphasised that his motivation to participate in the Circuit lies in the human experience that it entails, in living the experience and making contact with fans from all over the province because «it is like a family». Finally, Emilia Paunica recalled that she began her sporting career participating in popular races and highlighted the possibility that this competition offers to get to know and enjoy the villages of Almería.
The races that are part of the Circuit have an approximate distance of between 7 km and 10 km for the absolute category; the distances of the lower categories range from 400 m to 2 km. The healthy races, which continue to be offered in those venues whose structure allows it, will have a maximum distance of 5 km.
The host municipalities this year are Olula del Río, Bédar, Sorbas, María, Cuevas del Almanzora, Turre, Garrucha, Balanegra, Abla, Tíjola, Vera, Rioja, Macael, Gádor, Antas, Laujar, Pulpí and Enix. The calendar starts in Olula del Río on the 6th of April and will conclude on the 9th of November with the race in Gádor. The sponsors of the competition are Deportes Blanes, Podología de Murga, Fisioterapia Almería Centro and Frionature.
All the information about the circuit, each race, the rules and registration can be consulted and formalised on the event’s website: https://carreraspopularesalmeria.com/. You can also register on the website www.cruzandolameta.es.