Spanish and Italian runners take marathon title at European Running Championships

Spain's Fatima Ouhaddou and Italy's Iliass Aouani were crowned European champions on Sunday at the inaugural European Running Championships marathon between Brussels and Leuven. The Belgian women's marathon team won bronze in the country classification.

Ouhaddou won the women's race with a time of 2:27:14. She was followed by fellow Spaniard Majida Maayouf who took silver in 2:27:41. Bronze went to pre-race favourite Lonah Salpeter Chemai of Israel, who finished in 2:28:01.

Belgium's Hanne Verbruggen was in medal contention for much of the race, but faded in the final kilometres. What looked like a brave fourth place eventually turned into a dramatic collapse, with Verbruggen finishing 12th in 2:35:40.

The Belgian women's marathon team won bronze in the country classification, behind Spain and Israel.

Italy's Aouani dominated the men's race with a winning time of 2:09:05. Israeli runners Ayale Gashau and Maru Teferi completed the podium. Belgium's Dorian Boulvin and Thomas De Bock finished ninth and 10threspectively, buoyed by the enthusiastic home support.

This was the first edition of the European Running Championships, an event that brought together elite athletes and amateur runners. In addition to the full marathon on Sunday, which followed a scenic route from Brussels to Leuven, there was also a half marathon and a 10km run on Saturday.

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