Behobia-San Sebastián 2026: Javi Guerra and Katherine Tisalema win in the heat

Javi Guerra and Katherine Tisalema won the 61st Behobia-San Sebastián on Sunday, a race shaped by the heat the organisers had been warning about all week. The runner from Segovia won in 1:01:14 after attacking on the Miracruz climb, and the Ecuadorian, who lives in Spain, defended her title in 1:08:58, faster than the time that gave her the win last year. The results are still provisional: the organisers will publish the official ones during the afternoon.

Almost 30,000 runners had a bib for the 20 kilometres from the Behobia district of Irun to the Boulevard in San Sebastián, in the first edition with places allocated by ballot. Before the start, C.D. Fortuna had asked runners to slow down and forget about personal bests because of the risk of heatstroke, with around 20 degrees and a southerly wind forecast.

Javi Guerra breaks the race on Miracruz

The men’s race was decided on the last climb. A group of around twenty athletes went through Irun together, with Guerra and local runner Iraitz Arrospide setting the pace and Raúl Celada, the 2025 winner and the big favourite, always close. Club runner Javi Menta tried a breakaway at around the 15-minute mark, but the group soon brought him back.

The descent from Gaintxurizketa, halfway through the course, left three men at the front: Arrospide, Guerra and Celada. The decisive moment came on Miracruz, the last climb before the finish. Guerra changed pace on the way up, Celada couldn’t follow, and the Segovian extended his lead on the descent to the Boulevard. He won by 31 seconds from Celada (1:01:45) and 1:13 from Arrospide (1:02:27), who took his sixth podium in this race.

It is Guerra’s first Behobia win. His time is well off the record for the current course, Chakib Lachgar’s 59:56 from 2023, which is no surprise on a hot day and in a tactical race that only broke up in the final kilometres.

Tisalema alone from Errenteria

Katherine Tisalema set her own pace from the start. With her were Ethiopia’s Sisay Dida, Bulgaria’s Devora Krasimirova and Portugal’s Mónica Silva. Dida dropped back on the Gaintxurizketa descent, leaving three at the front. In Errenteria, halfway through, Tisalema accelerated and went clear.

On Miracruz, about four kilometres from the finish, she extended her lead and managed it on the final descent. Krasimirova, who came back in the last kilometres, finished second, 54 seconds behind (1:09:52), and Celia Antón, who got stronger as the race went on, completed the podium in 1:10:20.

Tisalema arrived in good form, having won the Stockholm Half Marathon and, a few weeks ago, the Torredonjimeno cross-country race. Her 1:08:58 is 36 seconds faster than the 1:09:34 she ran to win in 2025, which was listed as the women’s best on the current course. We will have to wait for the official results to confirm it.

The top ten

Men (provisional):

1. Javier Guerra Polo, 1:01:14
2. Raúl Celada Álvarez, 1:01:45
3. Iraitz Arrospide Garro, 1:02:27
4. Ahmed Ait Hemmou, 1:02:33
5. Rubén Marques Garay, 1:03:01
6. Ander Michelena Beltrán de Heredia, 1:03:02
7. Aitor Etxeberria Mugica, 1:03:55
8. Joanes Goitisolo Otazua, 1:03:59
9. Javi Menta Martínez, 1:04:03
10. Youness Assehli, 1:04:21

Women (provisional):

1. Katherine Ruth Tisalema, 1:08:58
2. Devora Krasimirova Avramova, 1:09:52
3. Celia Antón Alonso, 1:10:20
4. Mónica Silva, 1:10:52
5. Cristina Ruiz Fernández, 1:12:05
6. Souad Ait Salem, 1:12:16
7. Liliana Dragomir, 1:12:59
8. Mireia Guarner Piquet, 1:13:02
9. Maitane Melero Lacasia, 1:13:42
10. Laia González Martínez, 1:15:20

On skates, the fastest were Julen Urkizar (33:53), one second ahead of Aitor Vacas, and Garazi Ganuza (40:26), who won by five seconds from Alba Coca.

A hot day

The heat took its toll, especially on the Miracruz climb, where even the favourites felt the fatigue. The organisers had set up showers at every aid station and reinforced the medical service, and their advice to club runners was clear: run by feel, drink to thirst and stop at the first sign of cramp, dizziness or headache. In a race with three climbs and almost 200 metres of elevation gain, starting too fast in the heat is the surest way to suffer at the end, as we explained in our race-day keys for the Behobia.

Results, photos and videos

The full results, searchable by name and bib number, are on the race’s official website. The organisers will publish the official results this afternoon. High-resolution photos will be available from Monday 9 November, and finish-line videos will be published on El Diario Vasco’s website from the same date.

If you are already thinking about next year, our Behobia-San Sebastián race page covers the course section by section, the elevation profile and the start times, and will be updated as soon as the organisers announce the 2027 date and entry system.