Spanish runner posts 13:19 5K, one second off European record

At the Seven Hills 5K Testrun in the Netherlands on Sunday, some European talent got back into racing once again after a months-long competition hiatus around the world due to COVID-19. Spain’s Ouassim Oumaiz ran 13:19, smashing the Spanish 5K record and finishing just one second off the European record. The Dutch and Swedish records also fell after Mike Foppen of the Netherlands ran 13:31 and David Nilsson of Sweden ran 13:41. Dutch athlete Maureen Koster won the women’s race in 15:25, and although this was not a national record, it was still a massive PB and an impressive result for her return to racing. 

Today, we organised in collabaration with @7Hloop, the Seven Hills 5k Testrun in Nijmegen. Such a great coronaproof event, after a long time without races.

Highlight of the day: an outstanding run by Ouassim Oumaiz! With 13.19 min. only one second outside the European Record! pic.twitter.com/paL5EbM7by

— Global Sports Comm (@GlobalSportsCom) July 19, 2020

The Seven Hills Testrun 

According to organizers, the Seven Hills event was “coronaproof,” and a limited field of elites were invited to race. The run was held in Nijmegen, a city near the German border, and news of the event was kept quiet for as long as possible to avoid attracting crowds of spectators. To ensure social distancing guidelines were followed as much as possible, the men and women raced separately, starting a few minutes apart. 

RELATED: Joshua Cheptegei shatters 5K world record by 27 seconds

This was Oumaiz’s first official road 5K, but earlier in July, he ran a 5,000m PB of 13:31.45 at a track event in Spain, and he hammered that time on Sunday, beating it by 12 seconds. Foppen and Nilsson also beat recently-set 5K PBs after the Dutchman ran a 13:41 on the same course earlier this summer and the Swede set a national record of 13:58 (which he has now bettered) at the start of July. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CC0yxRunwXn/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The winners 

After taking the overall wins, it goes without saying that Oumaiz and Koster both had stellar days on the course. If Oumaiz hammered his PB for the distance, then Koster obliterated hers, because according to her World Athletics profile, her previous best time over 5K was 15:58. Koster represented the Netherlands in the 1,500m at the Rio Olympics in 2016, and after a few months off from racing, she looks to be in good form as she starts to build toward qualifying for Tokyo 2021. 

RELATED: Jakob Ingebrigtsen beats brother Henrik, sets unofficial Norwegian 5K record of 13:29

Oumaiz is now the Spanish record-holder in the 5K and the second-fastest European to ever run the event. After the race, he posted on Instagram to express his excitement in the results, although he also said he’s going to “continue working” and return to the track soon.