Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños

The Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños is a cross country running competition that takes place in Venta de Baños, Castile and León, Spain. The competition was first held in 1980 and since then it has been held every year in mid-December. Among the past winners are international athletes, such as former World Cross Country Champions Kenenisa Bekele and Gelete Burka, and local athletes Marta Domínguez and Isaac Viciosa (both former European Champions).

Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños
Verónica Nyaruai winning the 2009 women's race
Date	Mid-December
Location	Venta de Baños, Spain
Event type	Cross country
Distance	10.575 km for men 7.975 km for women
Established	1980
Official site	Cross de Venta de Baños
Participants	38 (2021) 47 (2019)

The competition began life as a regional competition, the Cross de Navidad (Christmas cross country), in 1980. The race became national in its second edition and, following the acceptance of an English team into the competition in 1982, it obtained its current name – the Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños. The competition was televised throughout Spain for the first time in 1984, but it was not until 1995 that the competition was broadcast annually.^[1]

The course on which the competition is held is defined by the muddy and cold conditions typical of Palencia in winter.^[1] The event comprises two distinct parts: the professional senior races and the amateur fun run races. The competition's races are separated into categories based on age and sex, including: the professional senior races, veteran competitions, under-23 and junior competitions, as well as four other youth categories for children. The professional men's senior race is usually held over 10.7 kilometres while the course for the women's senior race tends to be 6.6 km long.^[2] Both senior races trace a path through the flat, grassy areas to the east of the village before running a loop around the local sports centre.^[3][4]

Past senior race winners

Edition	Year	Men's winner	Time (m:s)	Women's winner	Time (m:s)
I	1980	Santiago de la Parte (ESP)		Ana Isabel Alonso (ESP)
II	1981	Santiago de la Parte (ESP)		Pilar Fernández (ESP)
III	1982	Santiago de la Parte (ESP)		Laura Blanco (ESP)
IV	1983	Constantino Esparcia (ESP)		Pilar Fernández (ESP)
V	1984	Ezequiel Canário (POR)		Asunción Sinovas (ESP)
VI	1985	Santiago Llorente (ESP)		Montse Abelló (ESP)
VII	1986	José Luis González (ESP)		Ana Isabel Alonso (ESP)
VIII	1987	Domingos Castro (POR)		Ana Isabel Alonso (ESP)
IX	1988	José Regalo (POR)		Mary Chemweno (KEN)
X	1989	Domingos Castro (POR)		Lieve Slegers (BEL)
XI	1990	Brahim Lahlafi (MAR)		Shelly Steely (USA)
XII	1991	William Koech (KEN)		Susan Sirma (KEN)
XIII	1992	Domingos Castro (POR)		Hellen Kimaiyo (KEN)
XIV	1993	Fita Bayisa (ETH)		Hellen Chepngeno (KEN)
XV	1994	Domingos Castro (POR)		Hellen Kimaiyo (KEN)
XVI	1995	Antonio Serrano (ESP)		Pauline Konga (KEN)
XVII	1996	Shem Kororia (KEN)		Sally Chepkorir (KEN)
XVIII	1997	Isaac Viciosa (ESP)		Berhane Adere (ETH)
XIX	1998	Isaac Viciosa (ESP)		Genet Gebregiorgis (ETH)
XX	1999	Hailu Mekonnen (ETH)		Helena Sampaio (POR)
XXI	2000	John Korir (KEN)		Rose Cheruiyot (KEN)
XXII	2001	Serhiy Lebid (UKR)		Yamna Belkacem (FRA)
XXIII	2002[5]	Sileshi Sihine (ETH)	32:37	Joan Aiyabei (KEN)	21:59
XXIV	2003[6]	Sileshi Sihine (ETH)	31:29	Justyna Bąk (POL)	22:05
XXV	2004[7]	Kenenisa Bekele (ETH)	30:26	Kathy Butler (GBR)	20:38
XXVI	2005[8]	Alberto García (ESP)	31:34	Gelete Burka (ETH)	21:05
XXVII	2006[9]	Abebe Dinkesa (ETH)	31:30	Wude Ayalew (ETH)	21:21
XXVIII	2007[10]	Tadese Tola (ETH)	30:39	Marta Domínguez (ESP)	20:56
XXIX	2008[11]	Alemayehu Bezabeh (ESP)	31:45	Inês Monteiro (POR)	22:41
XXX	2009[4]	Sergio Sánchez (ESP)	30:59	Veronica Nyaruai (KEN)	22:47
XXXI	2010[12]	Lucas Rotich (KEN)	32:20	Alessandra Aguilar (ESP)	23:19
XXXII	2011[13]	Philemon Limo (KEN)	31:57	Priscah Cherono (KEN)	22:47
XXXIII	2012[14]	Vincent Chepkok (KEN)	35:20	Mercy Cherono (KEN)	24:33
XXXIV	2013[15]	Cyprian Kotut (KEN)	31:58	Mercy Cherono (KEN)	23:08
XXXV	2014[16]	Timothy Toroitich (UGA)	34:57	Mimi Belete (BHR)	24:05
XXXVI	2015[17]	Aweke Ayalew (BHR)	32:17	Alemitu Heroye (ETH)	24:12
XXXVII	2016	Aweke Ayalew (BHR)	32:42	Etenesh Diro (ETH)	30:35
XXXVIII	2017	Selemon Barega (ETH)	31:09	Ruth Jebet (BHR)	25:45
XXXIX	2018	Vincent Rono (KEN)	34:16	Letesenbet Gidey (ETH)	27:22
XL	2019	Albert Chemutai (UGA)	32:13	Zenebu Fikadu (ETH)	26:44
XLI	2021	Rodrigue Kwizera (BDI)	32:30	Edinah Jebitok (KEN)	28:44
XLII	2022	Rodrigue Kwizera (BDI)		Francine Niyonsaba (BDI)
XLIII	2023	Abdessamad Oukhelfen (ESP)		Edinah Jebitok (KEN)
XLIV	2024	Nassim Hassaous (ESP)		Carolina Robles (ESP)

Wins by country

Country	Men's race	Women's race	Total
Spain	14	11	24
Kenya	8	15	23
Ethiopia	8	8	16
Portugal	6	2	8
Bahrain	2	2	4
Burundi	2	1	3
Uganda	2	0	2
Belgium	0	1	1
France	0	1	1
Great Britain	0	1	1
Morocco	1	0	1
Poland	0	1	1
Ukraine	1	0	1
United States	0	1	1

References

General

• Podium Cross Internacional (List of medallists). Venta de Baños. Retrieved on 2009-12-27.

Specific

1. 25 años de historia Archived 2009-12-10 at the Wayback Machine (25 Years of History). Venta de Baños. Retrieved on 2009-12-27.
2. INFORMACIÓN DE LA PRUEBA (Event information). RFEA. Retrieved on 2009-12-27.
3. Cross de Venta de Baños Archived 2009-12-10 at the Wayback Machine. Fundación ANOC. Retrieved on 2009-12-27.
4. Valiente, Emeterio (2009-12-21). Sánchez defeats European champion Bezabeh in Venta de Baños. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-12-27.
5. Valiente, Emeterio (2002-12-23). Kamathi beaten by World Junior medallist. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-12-27.
6. Valiente, Emeterio (2003-12-22). Sihine in a class of his own in Venta de Baños. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-12-27.
7. Valiente, Emeterio (2004-12-19).Bekele is unchallenged in Venta de Baños. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-12-27.
8. Valiente, Emeterio (2005-12-18). Burika and García go unchallenged in Venta de Baños. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-12-27.
9. Valiente, Emeterio (2006-12-17). Dinkesa shines in Venta de Baños. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-12-27.
10. Valiente, Emeterio (2007-12-16). Tola and Domínguez successful in Venta de Baños. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-12-27.
11. Valiente, Emeterio (2008-12-22). Bezabeh and Monteiro cruise to wins in Venta de Baños. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-12-27.
12. Valiente, Emeterio (2010-12-20). Rotich and Aguilar nab thrilling victories in Venta de Baños. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-12-23.
13. Valiente, Emeterio (2011-12-18). Limo and Jepleting secure a Kenyan double in Venta de Baños. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-12-23.
14. Valiente, Emeterio (2012-12-16). Chepkok and Cherono take the honours at Venta de Banos. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-14.
15. Mills, Steven (2013-12-16). Cherono bounces back at Venta de Banos. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-12-16.
16. Mills, Steven (2014-12-22). Toroitich and Belete win, Hassan and Cherono beaten. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-12-22.
17. Mills, Steven (2015-12-20). Ayalew claims back-to-back wins in Spain. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-12-20.

External links

• Official website
• Competition page from Real Federación Española de Atletismo