The Spaniard with the most wins at the Seville Marathon while working in the Police

“I have won the Seville Marathon three times, indeed. In 1986, 87 and 93. No Spaniard has won it that many times and it is an honor, yes, of course”, acknowledges Vicente Antón, who today is a 67-year-old man living in León and who at that time was an elite marathoner who managed 2 hours, 12, 50 seconds in Beijing as his personal best. “Seville was my confirmation as an athlete. In its streets I understood that I could beat anyone. I still remember the 1993 edition in which I broke away at kilometer 12 and made it all the way to the finish.”

“The first time I won in 1986 was a very beautiful experience. Until the last two kilometers you didn’t know what could happen. I had already won in Valencia and Laredo. But Seville then had more prestige because, as now, it was already a very good course,” recalls Vicente Antón when remembering those eighties years.

“In my era you couldn’t make a living from the marathon. I worked in the police in Madrid, where I must acknowledge that they gave me all kinds of support. Thanks to that I could train double sessions almost every day,” adds Antón who, at international level, finished 16th in the World Championships in Rome.

“Times have evolved, but they haven’t changed that much. The marathon is work, work and work. It has always been like this. For instance, I went beyond the 215 kilometers that my coach, Fernando Rodríguez, prescribed, to whom I will always be grateful. In fact, when I was at the Blume residence they offered me to change coaches and I refused because Fernando treated me wonderfully. I even stayed at his house for two years.”

“In my time we didn’t do gym work. We didn’t have facilities. We didn’t have weights. We managed with what we could. Everything was natural,” he explains. “In preseason we went running through the countryside. Then we did plyometrics jumping over ditches from one side to the other, I remember it was very fun. We used tree trunks etc etc. In short, it wasn’t the boredom of the gym that ate me inside and out.”

Antón was one of the greats of his era. “In Seville I remember the year when Tineo was behind me the entire race and I told him ‘either you take the lead or I go’, and in the end I broke away at kilometer 20, because in reality that was my tactic. I was a diesel engine. I couldn’t reach the finish with anyone. I lost five times in Madrid in the sprint. Each time someone different beat me. But that was my problem. The finish speed you either have or you don’t. Speed is very difficult to improve.”

“I retired at 35 in 1994 before the great revolution of Spanish marathon running with Fiz, Antón…., which was the best generation, the one that marked a golden age. But I couldn’t continue anymore. The years don’t forgive. I trained more but the results were worse. It didn’t make sense to go on like that. My coach told me, ‘quit, you’re fine and without injuries and the only thing you can do is damage your joints, you’ve done what you could and don’t drag yourself along’.”

“From then on, my professional life was already in the Police. I built a professional career. I traveled a lot around Spain until I arrived home in León, where I now live in peace. I’m already retired and I even have two grandchildren and another on the way. I exercise almost daily. I go out running as much as I feel like. Some days I run up to 10 or 12 kilometers without pushing. I have never told myself again, ‘I can’t go on anymore’, professional sport left my mind.”

“Sometimes I go through Seville, yes. My wife is from La Línea de la Concepción. Every year we pass through Seville, where I remember those years a lot. Especially in certain streets that I will never forget. They were the best years of my sporting life,” insists Antón, who does not wonder what would have become of him with today’s running shoes. “Surely they would have helped me recover better. I have no doubt,” he sums up.