A town between Salamanca and Villa, which had been vacant in recent decades, has been revived by the successes of its athletics club. He has received requests from brokers from all over Spain who want to be partners: “I tell you it can’t be.”

You get there on a Sunday and everything is normal, a town like any other, Macotera, bordering on 1,000 inhabitants, between Salamanca and Villa, until groups of runners start to appear, more runners, and more runners. They may be over a hundred, they make up the Macotera Athletics Club and they have a unique title: they are the Spanish team marathon champions. Weeks ago, his victories against major clubs like Madrid’s Croniques Serrano put the city on the map and today he still receives calls from athletes from across the country who want to become members. its chairman’s response, Juan Antonio FalagoAlways the same: “Please tell them it can’t happen”.

“We don’t want unknown people. It’s a town club, although many of us live outside. We ask for the support of at least two partners. Most of us were born in Macotera, we live there.” We spend the summer there, we spend the weekend there and we maintain the link through athletics”, explains Falgo and the paradox is: the success of the club stems from the population. This is the result of empty Spain. With agriculture as its engine, Macotera had over 3,500 residents in the post-war period, but this figure had dropped slightly until last year, dropping to 1,001 residents. There is less and less activity, Salamanca—45 kilometers away—has absorbed a good part of the population, but efforts are on to maintain a link to the city.

“It all started in the summer of 2009. To take advantage of the people living in the city in August, we set up a race in Sanrokada, just before the festivities, and soon after the club was formed. People were encouraged to run And in no time we had over 100 members. Most of them are popular, but seven of us are federated and in 2017, at a Spanish half-marathon championship, we felt we could be there. more nothing, until we win the title this year”, summarizes robert good, one of the architects of the recent victory. His time in the final Zaragoza Marathon (2:25), added to his brother’s time Juan (2:24) and his friend George Grandson (2:26), was the shortest of all the teams, although there were representatives from Cronís Serrano, Bikila or Eddie Marathon, the best clubs in Spain.

they all shoulder

“The fact that from Bikila, for example, only finished two and to count you need three runners, but we were also fair. Sometimes we take credit, but it’s not easy at all to win the Spanish championship No,” Bueno claims. Who also held national titles for more than 45 years. Resident in Valladolid, but born in Macotera, he is one of those people who get together on Sundays to run and help out the club, as everyone works here.

Even if they are champions of Spain, each member pays the fee, sells lotteries and organizes the meals needed to reach the unit’s budget of 7,000 euros, among other things. In addition, up to three races are organized during the year. There is also the sponsor, Jamones Prime, who has seen how his humble help to the town club ended in a report on the LA 1 newscast, among other media. And a little help from the city council that, yes, doesn’t promise much: An athletics track impossible, a small group meets in Salamanca on Wednesdays to train on tartan.

“We can’t let the towns die. At least we help the city get a little more congested on weekends. The meetings give a lot of excitement and the races we organize are important moments,” says President Falgo, who One is the victory of Club Place, along with the Spanish Championship, many neighbors who have given up tobacco and adopted a healthier life. And lives, of course, lives. In a city under attack from the population, athletics works to rediscover.