Saint Silvester Road Race

"São Silvestre" redirects here. For the film about the race, see São Silvestre (film).

This article is about the race in São Paulo, Brazil. For the race held in Madrid, Spain on December 31, see San Silvestre Vallecana.

The Saint Silvester Road Race (Portuguese: Corrida Internacional de São Silvestre) is a long-distance running event, the oldest and most prestigious street race in Brazil.

Saint Silvester Road Race
Saint Silvester Road Race in 2011.
Date	31 December
Location	São Paulo, Brazil
Event type	Road
Distance	15 kilometres (men & women)
Primary sponsor	Gazeta Esportiva
Established	1925
Official site	Corrida de São Silvestre

Regarded as the main international event in Latin American athletics, the Brazilian competition is held yearly in the city of São Paulo on December 31. This day is Saint Silvester's Day, as it is the day in which the Catholic saint, who was a Pope, died in the 4th century of the Christian Era.

São Paulo's race was originally known as a "marathon", although the course of the race, whose length has varied considerably over the years, was never that of a full marathon. Because of that, the organization eventually dropped the term "marathon", starting to refer to the event as a "race", "international race" or "road race". There was never an official effort on the part of the organization to address the change in the nomenclature, which causes many, including some media outlets,^[1] to continue using the term "Saint Silvester Marathon" when referring to the event. Its course is only 15 km (9.3 mi) long, less than half the length of a marathon. However, the race is made more difficult by the steep streets throughout the course and the fact that it happens during the local summertime.

Several other places like Amadora, Porto and Volta à cidade do Funchal in Portugal (Corrida de São Silvestre^[2]), Calderara di Reno (Maratona di San Silvestro^[3]) and Bolzano (BOclassic) in Italy, and Madrid in Spain (San Silvestre Vallecana), organize yearly Saint Silvester road races or marathons every late December.

History

Cásper Líbero, a "media millionaire" of the early 20th century Brazil, is credited with originally coming up with the idea for the race. He used it as a means of promoting his newspaper. In 1928, the year of the race's 4th edition, he founded one of the first sports newspapers of the country, the Gazeta Esportiva (the Sportive Gazette), which then became the race's official organizer and sponsor. The race would be the main advertising element of this sports newspaper.

The race was held for the first time on 31 December 1925 and hadn't been interrupted or suspended even once until 2020, not even for the duration of World War II.

Originally, it was intended for men only, and participation was restricted to citizens of the city of São Paulo. In the following years, runners from other parts of the country joined the race, but it was not until 1941 that a runner not from the city of São Paulo won the race: José Tibúrcio dos Santos, of Minas Gerais, another Brazilian state. At that time, the event was not yet open to foreign participation. That meant that athletes from other countries could not come in to participate, but foreigners residing in the city of São Paulo (immigrants) were free to enroll. Because of this, Italian Heitor Blasi was the only foreigner to have won the race before 1947.

In 1945 the field was opened so that foreign runners could participate. The first international race was restricted to invited runners from South America, but the success of the first two "international events" led race organizers to open the event to the rest of the world in 1947. That year marked the beginning of a 34-year-long period during which no Brazilian man won the event, until José João da Silva, from Pernambuco, won in 1980 (he would repeat the feat in 1985).

The event would remain a men-only affair until 1975, when the United Nations declared that year as the International Year of Women. In commemoration of this, the race organizers held the women's race for the first time. The women's race started as an open event, and the first Brazilian victory would come only in its 20th edition (in 1995), when Carmem Oliveira won.

Starting December 31, 1982, Rede Globo began to telecast the road race via satellite to the whole of Brazil, in partnership with TV Gazeta.

Since 1993, a shorter race for children is held a few days before the main event (dubbed "São Silvestrinha", or "Little Saint Silvester" – a unisex event).

Until 1988, the race took place at the late night hour starting at 23:00, approaching the New Year's, but the year of 1989 - the year the race began to be recognized as an international running event - saw substantial changes in the race's format, in order to comply with the rules of the IAAF. The time of the race was altered for first afternoon (to 3:00 p.m. for women and 5:00 p.m. for men), the course direction was reversed, and men and women, who used to run together, had their races separated. In 1991, the length of the race was extended to 15,000 meters (the distance for the event used to vary almost yearly, usually between 6.5 km and 8.8 km). This variance needed to be corrected in order to meet IAAF marathon and road race regulations and requirements.

The 2020 race was postponed to July 2021 and later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil,^[4] mark the first time that the race was not held since the debut in 1925.

Growth and prestige

For the first race, in 1925, 60 people filled applications to participate, but only 48 actually showed up on the day of the race. Of these, only 37 were officially qualified, since the rules then required that all runners had to finish within 3 minutes of the winner in order to qualify in the final board.

In 2004, 13,000 men and 2,000 women participated in their respective events.

Although the event had been open since 1945, it would become a noteworthy affair in the international calendar only in 1953, when the most famous runner of the time (and arguably of all time), Emil Zátopek, participated and won the race. In recent times, the foremost long distance runners of the last two decades (almost all of them, with the exception of Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia) have participated at least once in the event.

The principal winner of all times is now Paul Tergat, of Kenya, who has won the race 5 times (1995, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000). The record time for the present distance of 15 km is for his compatriot Kibiwott Kandie with a time of 42 minutes and 59 seconds in the 2019 edition.^[5]

Champions

  Course record (for 15 km distance)

Edition	Year	Men's winner	Time (m:s)	Distance	Women's winner	Time (m:s)	Distance
National era
1st	1925	Alfredo Gomes (BRA)	23:10	6.2 km	Not held
2nd	1926	Jorge Mancebo (BRA)	22:32	6.2 km
3rd	1927	Heitor Blasi (ITA)	23:00	6.2 km
4th	1928	Salim Maluf (BRA)	29:11	8.8 km
5th	1929	Heitor Blasi (ITA)	29:11	8.8 km
6th	1930	Murilo de Araújo (BRA)	25:35	8.8 km
7th	1931	José Agnello (BRA)	26:05	8.2 km
8th	1932	Nestor Gomes (BRA)	25:23	8.8 km
9th	1933	Nestor Gomes (BRA)	23:50	7.6 km
10th	1934	Alfredo Carletti (BRA)	24:10	7.6 km
11th	1935	Nestor Gomes (BRA)	25:51	7.6 km
12th	1936	Mario de Oliveira (BRA)	23:38	7.6 km
13th	1937	Mario de Oliveira (BRA)	23:26	7.6 km
14th	1938	Armando Martins (BRA)	23:38	7.6 km
15th	1939	Luiz Del Greco (BRA)	24:50	7.6 km
16th	1940	Antônio Alves (BRA)	23:14	7 km
17th	1941	José dos Santos (BRA)	22:12	7 km
18th	1942	Joaquim da Silva (BRA)	17:02	5.5 km
19th	1943	Joaquim da Silva (BRA)	17:31	5.5 km
20th	1944	Joaquim da Silva (BRA)	17:40	5.5 km
International era
21st	1945	Sebastião Monteiro (BRA)	21:54	7 km	Not held
22nd	1946	Sebastião Monteiro (BRA)	21:57	7 km
23rd	1947	Oscar Moreira (URU)	21:45	7 km
24th	1948	Raúl Inostroza (CHI)	22:18	7 km
25th	1949	Viljo Heino (FIN)	22:45	7.3 km
26th	1950	Lucien Theys (BEL)	22:37	7.3 km
27th	1951	Erik Krucziky (FRG)	22:26	7.3 km
28th	1952	Franjo Mihalić (YUG)	21:38	7.3 km
29th	1953	Emil Zátopek (TCH)	20:30	7.3 km
30th	1954	Franjo Mihalić (YUG)	21:51	7.4 km
31st	1955	Ken Norris (GBR)	22:18	7.4 km
32nd	1956	Manoel Faria (POR)	21:58	7.3 km
33rd	1957	Manoel Faria (POR)	21:37	7.3 km
34th	1958	Osvaldo Suárez (ARG)	21:40	7.4 km
35th	1959	Osvaldo Suárez (ARG)	21:55	7.4 km
36th	1960	Osvaldo Suárez (ARG)	22:02	7.4 km
37th	1961	Martin Hyman (GBR)	21:24	7.4 km
38th	1962	Hamoud Ameur (FRA)	22:08	7.4 km
39th	1963	Henry Clerckx (BEL)	21:55	7.4 km
40th	1964	Gaston Roelants (BEL)	21:37	7.4 km
41st	1965	Gaston Roelants (BEL)	21:20	7.4 km
42nd	1966	Álvaro Mejía (COL)	29:57	9.2 km
43rd	1967	Gaston Roelants (BEL)	24:31	8.7 km
44th	1968	Gaston Roelants (BEL)	24:32	8.7 km
45th	1969	Juan Martínez (MEX)	24:02	8.7 km
46th	1970	Frank Shorter (USA)	24:27	8.9 km
47th	1971	Rafael Tadeo (MEX)	23:47	8.9 km
48th	1972	Víctor Mora (COL)	23:24	8.9 km
49th	1973	Víctor Mora (COL)	23:25	8.9 km
50th	1974	Rafael Ángel Pérez (CRC)	23:58	8.9 km
51st	1975	Víctor Mora (COL)	23:13	8.9 km	Christa Vahlensieck (FRG)	28:39	8.9 km
52nd	1976	Edmundo Warnke (CHI)	23:50	8.9 km	Christa Vahlensieck (FRG)	28:36	8.9 km
53rd	1977	Domingo Tibaduiza (COL)	23:55	8.9 km	Loa Olafsson (DEN)	27:15	8.9 km
54th	1978	Radhouane Bouster (FRA)	23:51	8.9 km	Dana Slater (USA)	28:55	8.9 km
55th	1979	Herb Lindsay (USA)	23:26	9 km	Dana Slater (USA)	29:07	9 km
56th	1980	José João da Silva (BRA)	23:40	8.9 km	Heidi Hutterer (FRG)	27:48	8.9 km
57th	1981	Víctor Mora (COL)	23:30	8.9 km	Rosa Mota (POR)	26:45	8.9 km
58th	1982	Carlos Lopes (POR)	39:41	13.548 km	Rosa Mota (POR)	47:21	13.548 km
59th	1983	João da Mata (BRA)	37:39	12.6 km	Rosa Mota (POR)	43:44	12.6 km
60th	1984	Carlos Lopes (POR)	36:43	12.640 km	Rosa Mota (POR)	43:35	12.640 km
61st	1985	José João da Silva (BRA)	36:48	12.640 km	Rosa Mota (POR)	43:00	12.640 km
62nd	1986	Rolando Vera (ECU)	36:45	12.6 km	Rosa Mota (POR)	43:25	12.6 km
63rd	1987	Rolando Vera (ECU)	39:02	13 km	Martha Tenorio (ECU)	46:27	13 km
64th	1988	Rolando Vera (ECU)	36:23	12.630 km	Aurora Cunha (POR)	42:12	12.630 km
65th	1989	Rolando Vera (ECU)	36:45	12.650 km	María del Carmen Díaz (MEX)	43:52	12.650 km
66th	1990	Arturo Barrios (MEX)	35:58	12.640 km	María del Carmen Díaz (MEX)	43:16	12.640 km
67th	1991	Arturo Barrios (MEX)	44:04	15 km	María Luisa Servín (MEX)	54:02	15 km
68th	1992	Simon Chemoiywo (KEN)	44:08	15 km	María del Carmen Díaz (MEX)	54:00	15 km
69th	1993	Simon Chemoiywo (KEN)	43:20	15 km	Hellen Kimaiyo (KEN)	50:26	15 km
70th	1994	Ronaldo da Costa (BRA)	44:11	15 km	Derartu Tulu (ETH)	51:17	15 km
71st	1995	Paul Tergat (KEN)	43:12	15 km	Carmem de Oliveira (BRA)	50:53	15 km
72nd	1996	Paul Tergat (KEN)	43:50	15 km	Roseli Machado (BRA)	52:32	15 km
73rd	1997	Émerson Iser Bem (BRA)	44:40	15 km	Martha Tenorio (ECU)	52:03	15 km
74th	1998	Paul Tergat (KEN)	44:47	15 km	Olivera Jevtić (YUG)	51:35	15 km
75th	1999	Paul Tergat (KEN)	44:35	15 km	Lydia Cheromei (KEN)	51:29	15 km
76th	2000	Paul Tergat (KEN)	43:57	15 km	Lydia Cheromei (KEN)	50:33	15 km
77th	2001	Tesfaye Jifar (ETH)	44:15	15 km	Maria Zeferina Baldaia (BRA)	52:09	15 km
78th	2002	Robert Cheruiyot (KEN)	44:59	15 km	Marizete Rezende (BRA)	54:02	15 km
79th	2003	Marílson dos Santos (BRA)	43:49	15 km	Margaret Okayo (KEN)	51:24	15 km
80th	2004	Robert Cheruiyot (KEN)	44:43	15 km	Lydia Cheromei (KEN)	52:58	15 km
81st	2005	Marílson dos Santos (BRA)	44:19	15 km	Olivera Jevtić (SCG)	51:37	15 km
82nd	2006	Franck de Almeida (BRA)	44:06	15 km	Lucélia Peres (BRA)	51:23	15 km
83rd	2007	Robert Cheruiyot (KEN)	45:54	15 km	Alice Timbilil (KEN)	51:37	15 km
84th	2008	James Kwambai (KEN)	44:42	15 km	Wude Ayalew (ETH)	51:37	15 km
85th	2009	James Kwambai (KEN)	44:40	15 km	Paskalia Kipkoech (KEN)	52:30	15 km
86th	2010	Marílson dos Santos (BRA)	44:07	15 km	Alice Timbilil (KEN)	50:19	15 km
87th	2011	Tariku Bekele (ETH)	43:35	15 km	Priscah Jeptoo (KEN)	48:48	15 km
88th	2012	Edwin Kipsang (KEN)	44:05	15 km	Maurine Kipchumba (KEN)	51:42	15 km
89th	2013	Edwin Kipsang (KEN)	43:48	15 km	Nancy Kipron (KEN)	51:58	15 km
90th	2014	Dawit Fikadu (ETH)	45:04	15 km	Wude Ayalew (ETH)	50:43	15 km
91st	2015	Stanley Biwott (KEN)	44:31	15 km	Wude Ayalew (ETH)	54:01	15 km
92nd	2016	Leul Aleme (ETH)	44:53	15 km	Jemima Sumgong (KEN)	48:34	15 km
93rd	2017	Dawit Fikadu (ETH)	44:17	15 km	Flomena Cheyech (KEN)	50:18	15 km
94th	2018	Belay Bezabeh (ETH)	45:03	15 km	Sandrafelis Tuei (KEN)	50:02	15 km
95th	2019	Kibiwott Kandie (KEN)	42:59	15 km	Brigid Kosgei (KEN)	48:54	15 km
96th	2021	Belay Bezabeh (ETH)	44:54	15 km	Sandrafelis Tuei (KEN)	50:06	15 km
97th	2022	Andrew Kwemoi (UGA)	44:43	15 km	Catherine Reline (KEN)	49:39	15 km
98th	2023	Timothy Kiplagat (KEN)	44:52	15 km	Catherine Reline (KEN)	49:54	15 km

Titles by country

Country	Men	Women	Total
Kenya	17	18	35
Brazil	29(1)	5	34
Ethiopia	7	4	11
Portugal	4	7	11
Mexico	4	5	9
Belgium	6	0	6
Colombia	6	0	6
Ecuador	4	2	6
United States	2	2	4
West Germany	1	3	4
Argentina	3	0	3
Chile	2	0	2
France	2	0	2
Italy	2(2)	0	2
Serbia and Montenegro	0	2	2
United Kingdom	2	0	2
Yugoslavia	2	0	2
Costa Rica	1	0	1
Czechoslovakia	1	0	1
Denmark	0	1	1
Finland	1	0	1
Uganda	1	0	1
Uruguay	1	0	1

¹ Brazilians won 18 times in the national era, and 11 times in the international era.

² Italy only won in the national era, with the Italo-Brazilian, Heitor Blasi.

See also

• São Silvestre (film)

References

1. "Google search:media outlets still use the term "Saint Silvester Marathon"". Google.br. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
2. (in Portuguese) Rui Silva e Sara Moreira vencem São Silvestre do Porto, Público (December 28, 2008)
3. (in Italian) Maratona di San Silvestro Archived 2009-02-07 at the Wayback Machine
4. "96ª Corrida de São Silvestre é transferida para 31 de dezembro de 2021" (in Portuguese). Gazeta Esportiva. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
5. "Com ultrapassagem no final, queniano vence São Silvestre e crava recorde" [With an overtaking at the end, Kenyan wins São Silvestre and set record]. UOL. Retrieved 2019-12-31.

External links

• Official website (in Portuguese)