Campaigns
Challenge 50/50/25
Donostia San Sebastián Turismoa, Marathon, and Behobia-San Sebastián join forces for gender parity in sports
– Donostia San Sebastián Turismoa, the Zurich Donostia Marathon, and the Behobia-San Sebastián race have formed an alliance to promote women’s sports and achieve gender parity in participation in popular races.
– One of the joint initiatives will be the “Zurich Maratoia Donostia 50/50/25 Challenge,” aimed at achieving equal participation of both sexes in the 2025 San Sebastián Marathon.
– Donostia San Sebastián Turismoa has been collaborating for years in promoting the city as a running and sports destination through national and international fairs, running packages and getaways, online promotion, etc.
– One of the joint initiatives will be the “Zurich Maratoia Donostia 50/50/25 Challenge,” aimed at achieving equal participation of both sexes in the 2025 San Sebastián Marathon.
– Donostia San Sebastián Turismoa has been collaborating for years in promoting the city as a running and sports destination through national and international fairs, running packages and getaways, online promotion, etc.
Donostia San Sebastián Turismoa, Behobia‑San Sebastián and the Zurich Maratoia Donostia have come together to promote female participation in popular races and achieve parity in the number of registrations.
The goal is clear and ambitious: to reach 50% female registrations by 2025. Currently, 26.3% of the registrations for the Behobia are women and although the percentage grows year after year, there is still work to be done.
DSS Turismoa, Fly Group ‒ organizer of the Marathon and the Salto 15Klasikoa, together with the Federación Atlética Guipuzcoana ‒ and Club Fortuna ‒ organizer of the Behobia ‒ have for years been collaborating in promoting the city as a running and sports destination. To date they have supported attendance at national and international fairs, created running packs and getaways to facilitate attendance and international booking, carried out promotion through campaigns and online content, etc. This year, as a novelty, DSS Turismoa has decided to support with financial sponsorship the promotion and dissemination of the 50/50/25 challenge.
The 50/50/25 challenge is part of a process of critical reflection, learning and playful action around equality. If women have real role models, they will follow them, which is why girls and young people need to see women running, training and competing. With that percentage a message will be sent: in all areas of life, professional, family, athletic, men and women act equally when they have the same real opportunities. In this regard, Behobia‑San Sebastián has laid out a 7‑year Work Plan with concrete actions, because the true intention of the 50/50/25 project is to contribute to that social change.
Why isn’t participation in races parity‐balanced?
According to data provided by Behobia‑San Sebastián, Behobia Txiki has 44% girls’ participation and Behobia Gaztea, 48%. So why only 24% among adults? Various studies indicate that girls between 12 and 14 cease doing sport en masse.
Countries with a longer tradition in popular races like the United States already have 60% female participation in half‑marathons and are close to achieving 50% in distances such as the marathon.
In Donostia/San Sebastián, the trend is positive. In the Marathon, in 2010, female participation was 6%, and this year women’s registrations already reach 18%. In the Behobia San Sebastián, the female percentage was 14%, and this year registrations are now 26%.
Therefore, Donostia San Sebastián Turismoa, Behobia and the Marathon have allied with the goal of promoting greater female participation in sport, and have started with a project such as the 50/50/25 challenge, in which the magazine Corredor and the website soycorredora.es also collaborate.
How are we going to achieve it?
With initiatives like the 50/50/25 Challenge, launched together with the Marathon and Behobia.
Through an open draw, in which 450 women registered, six women who wished to run the Zurich Marathon of Donostia / San Sebastián 2019 were selected and the following services will be made available to them:
‑ Race number.
‑ Accommodation.
‑ Travel expenses to Donostia.
‑ An expert athletics coach who will provide each runner with a training plan.
Also, 50 registrations have been offered, in cooperation with Zurich insurance, to those women who signed up for the challenge and who were not selected in the team of six. They will also wear the identifying shirt to make the challenge visible.
The six women of the Challenge have already begun their training plan, under the direction of Franc Beneyto, their coach for this great challenge ahead.
Who are they?
Ane Alberdi Aramendi: Basque runner who has been running for 11 years with three half‐marathons, where her best time is 1:24, and many more shorter races to her credit. “I need a push or motivation of this kind to take me to the next level in what I love, which is running.” At the Zurich Marathon of San Sebastián she will make her debut in the Filípides distance.
Olimpia Corcuera González: this Riojan woman started out on an athletics track, so we can say she has been running her whole life, partly because her father was the athlete and coach Iluminado Corcuera. During her first pregnancy she decided to rest and returned after having her second child. “But after my father and coach’s death in an accident, I found no motivation.” In 2017 she decided it was time to return, she took the athletics coaching course to train children, including her own, and searched for a great goal, the San Sebastián Marathon. Now she wants to run it again and lower her time by a few minutes.
Carmen Martín Díaz: in September it will be three years since she began running, but races are not lacking in this Catalan’s legs: nearly twenty 10Ks and four half‑marathons with times of 48:00 in 10K and 1:49 in half. She knows the agony of intervals preparing for a 5K and the long runs in halves. In the Zurich Marathon of San Sebastián she will debut in the queen distance and motivation is not missing. “I have respect, a lot of respect, but I know that if I am well guided there’s no unattainable challenge at the door of my 42; I will become unstoppable.”
Miri Karina Pérez Escalante: runner from Salamanca who first took strides five years ago when she was diagnosed with colon cancer. “I like to set challenges for myself, and to show both to myself and the world that sport can be done even when there are difficulties and that one can overcome or face cancer and chemotherapy.” She has lost count of the 10Ks she has done, more than 15 halves, 2 marathons and also 2 ultras of 70 km in the mountains. Her best marathon time is from last year in Madrid: 3:51.
María Rodríguez Gómez: this Madrilenian is our youngest participant at 23 years old. In the three years she’s been running she has completed several 5Ks, 10Ks, two halves and even a mountain race. “My dream is to run a marathon at least once in my life. For me running has been a salvation, I have managed to channel my energy and it has saved me both physically and psychologically. I had a nurse who has been my role model in the running world and there would be nothing more exciting than following in her same footsteps.”
Estíbaliz Ruiz Loyarte: experienced runner with more than 11 years of training and over twenty races to her name. The Zurich Marathon of San Sebastián was her first marathon and the great reason that made her catch the marathon “bug.” “It was hard but the good atmosphere and organization helped me a lot. Moreover, in Donostia I participated in one of the first races my father saw me take part (in a half), he passed away last year after a long illness and since then I have barely run, it would be a great tribute.”
The goal is clear and ambitious: to reach 50% female registrations by 2025. Currently, 26.3% of the registrations for the Behobia are women and although the percentage grows year after year, there is still work to be done.
DSS Turismoa, Fly Group ‒ organizer of the Marathon and the Salto 15Klasikoa, together with the Federación Atlética Guipuzcoana ‒ and Club Fortuna ‒ organizer of the Behobia ‒ have for years been collaborating in promoting the city as a running and sports destination. To date they have supported attendance at national and international fairs, created running packs and getaways to facilitate attendance and international booking, carried out promotion through campaigns and online content, etc. This year, as a novelty, DSS Turismoa has decided to support with financial sponsorship the promotion and dissemination of the 50/50/25 challenge.
The 50/50/25 challenge is part of a process of critical reflection, learning and playful action around equality. If women have real role models, they will follow them, which is why girls and young people need to see women running, training and competing. With that percentage a message will be sent: in all areas of life, professional, family, athletic, men and women act equally when they have the same real opportunities. In this regard, Behobia‑San Sebastián has laid out a 7‑year Work Plan with concrete actions, because the true intention of the 50/50/25 project is to contribute to that social change.
Why isn’t participation in races parity‐balanced?
According to data provided by Behobia‑San Sebastián, Behobia Txiki has 44% girls’ participation and Behobia Gaztea, 48%. So why only 24% among adults? Various studies indicate that girls between 12 and 14 cease doing sport en masse.
Countries with a longer tradition in popular races like the United States already have 60% female participation in half‑marathons and are close to achieving 50% in distances such as the marathon.
In Donostia/San Sebastián, the trend is positive. In the Marathon, in 2010, female participation was 6%, and this year women’s registrations already reach 18%. In the Behobia San Sebastián, the female percentage was 14%, and this year registrations are now 26%.
Therefore, Donostia San Sebastián Turismoa, Behobia and the Marathon have allied with the goal of promoting greater female participation in sport, and have started with a project such as the 50/50/25 challenge, in which the magazine Corredor and the website soycorredora.es also collaborate.
How are we going to achieve it?
With initiatives like the 50/50/25 Challenge, launched together with the Marathon and Behobia.
Through an open draw, in which 450 women registered, six women who wished to run the Zurich Marathon of Donostia / San Sebastián 2019 were selected and the following services will be made available to them:
‑ Race number.
‑ Accommodation.
‑ Travel expenses to Donostia.
‑ An expert athletics coach who will provide each runner with a training plan.
Also, 50 registrations have been offered, in cooperation with Zurich insurance, to those women who signed up for the challenge and who were not selected in the team of six. They will also wear the identifying shirt to make the challenge visible.
The six women of the Challenge have already begun their training plan, under the direction of Franc Beneyto, their coach for this great challenge ahead.
Who are they?
Ane Alberdi Aramendi: Basque runner who has been running for 11 years with three half‐marathons, where her best time is 1:24, and many more shorter races to her credit. “I need a push or motivation of this kind to take me to the next level in what I love, which is running.” At the Zurich Marathon of San Sebastián she will make her debut in the Filípides distance.
Olimpia Corcuera González: this Riojan woman started out on an athletics track, so we can say she has been running her whole life, partly because her father was the athlete and coach Iluminado Corcuera. During her first pregnancy she decided to rest and returned after having her second child. “But after my father and coach’s death in an accident, I found no motivation.” In 2017 she decided it was time to return, she took the athletics coaching course to train children, including her own, and searched for a great goal, the San Sebastián Marathon. Now she wants to run it again and lower her time by a few minutes.
Carmen Martín Díaz: in September it will be three years since she began running, but races are not lacking in this Catalan’s legs: nearly twenty 10Ks and four half‑marathons with times of 48:00 in 10K and 1:49 in half. She knows the agony of intervals preparing for a 5K and the long runs in halves. In the Zurich Marathon of San Sebastián she will debut in the queen distance and motivation is not missing. “I have respect, a lot of respect, but I know that if I am well guided there’s no unattainable challenge at the door of my 42; I will become unstoppable.”
Miri Karina Pérez Escalante: runner from Salamanca who first took strides five years ago when she was diagnosed with colon cancer. “I like to set challenges for myself, and to show both to myself and the world that sport can be done even when there are difficulties and that one can overcome or face cancer and chemotherapy.” She has lost count of the 10Ks she has done, more than 15 halves, 2 marathons and also 2 ultras of 70 km in the mountains. Her best marathon time is from last year in Madrid: 3:51.
María Rodríguez Gómez: this Madrilenian is our youngest participant at 23 years old. In the three years she’s been running she has completed several 5Ks, 10Ks, two halves and even a mountain race. “My dream is to run a marathon at least once in my life. For me running has been a salvation, I have managed to channel my energy and it has saved me both physically and psychologically. I had a nurse who has been my role model in the running world and there would be nothing more exciting than following in her same footsteps.”
Estíbaliz Ruiz Loyarte: experienced runner with more than 11 years of training and over twenty races to her name. The Zurich Marathon of San Sebastián was her first marathon and the great reason that made her catch the marathon “bug.” “It was hard but the good atmosphere and organization helped me a lot. Moreover, in Donostia I participated in one of the first races my father saw me take part (in a half), he passed away last year after a long illness and since then I have barely run, it would be a great tribute.”