San Silvestre Vallecana 2024 Results: winners and times

The 2024 San Silvestre Vallecana closed the year in Madrid with the exact blend of celebration, athletic level, and popular energy that has made it a benchmark on the calendar. The 60th-anniversary edition produced an unusual image in the men’s elite, with a shared victory between Berihu Aregawi and Jacob Kiplimo, and a triumph of huge symbolic weight for Marta García, who won the women’s race and delivered one of the night’s most celebrated stories.

In the popular race, the tide of runners once again gave meaning to a tradition that is already part of the capital’s year-end landscape. Mohamed Massat Bouzahar won the men’s race in 29:07 and Esther Ramos opened her account in the event with 34:38, in an edition that brought together tens of thousands of finishers and delivered very powerful figures to help understand the true scale of this race.

An edition marked by elite quality and the energy of the streets

The night of December 31 once again painted a familiar scene: the start around the Santiago Bernabéu, the route through central Madrid, and the finish at the Vallecas Stadium, where the Vallecana always finds its most popular meaning. In 2024, the organizers brought together more than 40,000 participants across both races, a figure that confirms the scale of an event that is no longer measured only by times, but by sporting and social impact.

In the men’s elite race, the pace was fierce from very early on. Aregawi and Kiplimo sustained a high-voltage duel until the end, with the Ethiopian stopping the clock at 26:32 in a very solid performance. Behind them, Adel Mechaal completed the podium in 27:40, a result that kept fans on edge until the final meters and added Spanish representation to a race dominated by top international names.

The women’s race told a different story, more open and with a finish of enormous value for Spanish athletics. Marta García Alonso won in 31:19 ahead of Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich, second in 31:32, and Águeda Marqués Muñoz, third in 31:34. The final order made one thing clear: the San Silvestre Vallecana remains a showcase capable of bringing together world stars and national runners in the same contest, with no polish and no shortcuts.

The popular race’s double focus: times and atmosphere

The popular race was once again, as every year, a human current driven more by identity than by statistics. Even so, the 2024 results help measure the race’s level. Mohamed Massat Bouzahar took the men’s victory in 29:07, followed by Nicolás Cuestas in 29:16 and Adrián de la Orden in 29:57. In the women’s race, Esther Ramos dominated in 34:38, ahead of Paula García Pérez in 35:17 and Cristina Giurcanu in 35:44.

Beyond the podium, one of the best indicators of the event’s health is the distribution of times. According to figures released after the race, 33,203 finishers completed the popular race, with 600 runners under 40 minutes, 2,282 under 45, and 5,666 under 50. These are numbers that sketch a very broad race, with a huge base of participants who are not chasing a technically perfect gesture, but a date that blends effort, Madrid identity, and the end of the year.

The course retains that tough character that rewards smart pacing. The fast start, the wide streets at the beginning, and the final climb toward Vallecas form a very recognizable script for any runner. The popular race usually gives nothing away at the end; it demands patience, lactate tolerance, and a cool head when the legs are already asking to slow down. Precisely for that reason, the 2024 times gain added value: they were not achieved on a flat track or an aseptic circuit, but in a race with its own personality.

The international race delivered a record-like reading and a victory with historic weight

The international race had a very high reference speed and a level of competitive density worthy of a major event. The most striking fact was the shared victory between Berihu Aregawi and Jacob Kiplimo, who crossed the line in 26:32 in a finish that summed up the edition’s level. Their duel was one of the night’s great sporting highlights, a sequence of pace changes and tactical vigilance that kept uncertainty alive until the final meters.

Marta García produced a victory of enormous media and sporting impact. Her 31:19 not only gave her the win, but made her the first Spanish woman to win the international race since 2008, a fact that alone explains the scale of her result. The scene in Vallecas, with the stadium fully behind the Spanish runner, had something of a long-overdue recognition: an established distance runner on the European map making a statement of authority in a race with history.

The depth of the performances in the international race was also reflected in the times. 1,638 finishers reached the line and 329 finished under 35 minutes, with 99 under 32, 49 under 31, and 27 under 30. That block of data is no minor detail: it reveals a race in which the top performers are not detached from the rest of the field, and where the line between running very fast and running well becomes especially fine.

What the 2024 times reveal about the state of the race

The San Silvestre Vallecana remains a race with a double reading. On one hand, it is a top-level competition, capable of attracting world-class distance runners and producing times that would rival much stricter specialist events. On the other, it keeps a massive base of runners who take it on as a ritual, a farewell to the year with a bib and running shoes instead of toasts and sofas. That coexistence explains why the media focus is split between the winners and the overall participation numbers.

The 2024 times confirm that the popular race is far from a mere festive stroll. Massat Bouzahar’s 29:07 and Esther Ramos’s 34:38 would be excellent marks in many high-level urban races. At the same time, the international race once again demanded a hard, almost surgical natural selection, where those who survived were the ones able to sustain the pace of a very special night in Madrid. The difference between the two races is not prestige, but competitive logic: one opens the door to thousands of runners; the other requires credentials and level.

There was also a very visible emotional component. Vallecas Stadium, full and vibrant, offered a finish with the feel of a collective celebration. The race is not limited to a times table, because at that finish there is a combination of noise, cold, lights, hugs, and the kind of satisfied exhaustion that only major distance events leave behind. That is why each edition is read on two levels: the sporting and the human, united without friction.

The social dimension of a night that already belongs to Madrid’s calendar

Madrid has turned the Vallecana into a rite of passage between years, and 2024 was no exception. The race has become part of the urban imagination as a kind of bridge between the city of festive noise and the city that still competes, sweats, and puts on a bib. That balance between elite and popular is part of its success, but also of its longevity: few races sustain two such different worlds in the same night with such natural ease.

Rayo Vallecano’s centenary added an additional emotional backdrop in the stadium, with an atmosphere that reinforced the identity of the neighborhood and the historical link between the race and Vallecas. In journalistic terms, that connection matters because it gives context to the results: this is not an isolated event, but a race rooted in a territory that feels it as its own. That is why each victory arrives accompanied by an atmosphere that is hard to replicate in other cities.

The popular race also remains a gateway to running for very different profiles. There are experienced runners, first-timers, groups of friends, families, and athletes looking to close the year with a gesture of continuity. That mix makes the results as interesting as the atmosphere, because behind every time there is a different motivation. In 2024, that diversity was once again reflected in massive participation and times ranging from elite level to the runner who simply wanted to reach the finish line in one piece.

What remains in the memory after a Vallecana like this

Berihu Aregawi and Jacob Kiplimo delivered a top-class duel, Marta García claimed a victory with historic impact, and the popular race once again showed why the Vallecana is more than a 10-kilometer race. The 2024 results leave a complete snapshot: athletic excellence at the top, massive participation below, and an entire city serving as a backdrop. That combination explains why the event continues to grow without losing its own accent.

The 60th-anniversary edition also leaves behind an idea that is hard to dispute: the San Silvestre Vallecana remains one of the great events in European running because it keeps the pulse between elite competition, fans, and the street intact. The times, podiums, and figures matter, but they only make sense within a night that Madrid recognizes as its own. And in 2024, that identity once again came through clearly in every meter between the Bernabéu and Vallecas.

The results of the 2024 San Silvestre Vallecana do more than simply say who won. They explain how a race can remain relevant when it preserves its essence, updates its sporting level, and keeps alive a tradition that already belongs to the emotional landscape of year-end. In that mix lies much of its strength, and also the reason why each edition leaves behind more than a classification.