Marathon News - Ray Leads Spanish World Championships Marathon Squad

May-4-2005

Ray Leads Spanish World Championships Marathon Squad
by Bob Ramsak
(c) Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved

Defending world championships silver medallist Julio Rey will lead the
Spanish marathon squad for August's IAAF World Championships, RFEA, the
Spanish Federation, announced today.

Most recently, the 33-year-old Spaniard won the Olympus Marathon in Hamburg,
Germany in 2:07:38, his third sub-2:08 performance. At the 2003 world
championships in Paris, Rey clocked 2:08:38, seven seconds behind winner
Gharib Jaouad Gharib of Morocco. Rey also won the bronze medal at the 2002
European Championships.

Joining Rey will be José Ríos, Chema Martínez and Kamel Ziani. Ríos has a
personal best of 2:07:42 from his win at the Lake Biwa Marathon in 2004, and
in his most recent outing, finished second in the same marathon, clocking
2:09:03 in March. Martinez has a best of 2:08:09 from the 2003 Fortis
Marathon Rotterdam, while Ziani's best of 2:10:18, was set in 1997. Both
raced in Rotterdam last month, with Martinez finishing ninth (2:11:56) and
Ziani 12th (2:12:53).

Isabel Eizmendi is the lone entrant for the women's team. She too competed
in Rotterdam, finishing third in 2:33:14.

The men's world championships marathon is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 13,
with the women's race the following day.