10 Curiosities about the most popular street race in Brazil

Every year tens of thousands of people participate in the most famous street race in Brazil, to São Silvestre🇧🇷 Held 94 years ago, it has changed a lot in that period. In the beginning, for example, it had 8.8 km, a little more than half of the current 15 km, it did not allow people to drink water, nor the participation of women.

O awesome.club went to research the history of this great party of professional and amateur athletes and brings you some curiosities. Check out.

In 1924, journalist Casper Líbero, one of the most important journalists in the country at the time and founder of the first journalism school in Brazil, watched a night street race in France and decided to make a Brazilian version. The name of São Silvestre was a tribute to a pope who was canonized on this date and who ruled the Catholic Church from 314 to 355.

The first edition of the Brazilian version of the test was in 1925, at night, in São Paulo. It’s hard to believe that a street race that today gathers about 30 thousand subscribers started with 60 dripping cats. Of these, 48 attended and only 37 qualified. At that time, the course of the race was about 8.8 km; it was forbidden to drink water during the course and only those who arrived up to three minutes after that year’s winner, the athlete Alfredo Gomes, qualified.

From the creation of the race until the year 1940, all the victories were from São Paulo. However, in 1941, a miner named José Tibúrcio dos Santos won the race. Later, in 1945, the race opened space for athletes from other countries and became international, starting an era of foreign victories.

Considered by many to be the greatest long-distance runner in history, the Czech Emil Zatopek, participated in São Silvestre in 1953🇧🇷 He easily won the 7.3 km distance of the race. The presence of the Czech in São Paulo took more than 800 thousand people to the streets. What astonished everyone is that he later complained of blisters on his feet. In the previous year, in 1952, Zatopek had won no less than three gold medals at the Olympics in Helsinki, Finlandthe 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters and the marathon.

In 1964, five athletes from the tribes that inhabited Bananal Island, located in what is now the state of Tocantins, participated in the race.

The year 1975 was declared by the UN (United Nations) as the International Year of Women. With that, the organization of São Silvestre allowed the creation of a female modality. At the time, 17 women signed up, 14 started and 12 completed the course.

Foreign supremacy lasted from 1946 to 1979. In 1980, José João da Silva again placed the Brazilian flag in the highest place on the podium, closing the 8.9 km in 23 minutes and 40 seconds.

After several editions that turned into the night of December 31st until the early morning of January 1st, São Silvestre started to be held in the afternoon, at 5 pm. The champion at the time was Ecuadorian Rolando Vera. Two years later, in 1991, the race distance was fixed at 15 km and, with that, it became part of the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) calendar. After that, the race changed its schedule once again, and today, the start is at 9:00 am.

Kenyan Paul Tergat, one of the greatest marathon runners in history he is the biggest winner of São Silvestre, with five victories: 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000. He just didn’t win in 1997 because he was overtaken by a Brazilian, the paranaense Emerson Iser Bem. It was also in 1998 that the event reached 20,000 participants. The biggest Brazilian champion is Marilson Gomes, who won the competition three times: in 2003, 2005 and 2010. Among women, the biggest winner is the Portuguese Rosa Mota, with no less than six victories in the 1980s.

In 2011, citing a safety issue, the organization of São Silvestre decided to remove the traditional descent from Avenida da Consolação, at the beginning of the course, to another nearby point. Also this year, the point of dispersion of the runners moved from the front of the Gazeta building, at number 900 on Avenida Paulista, to a lawn near the Ibirapuera park. It rained a lot and everyone left there as if they had entered a bucket of mud. In 2012, dispersion was again carried out on Paulista, however, the test, which had 64 editions at night and 23 in the afternoon, began to be held in the morning, a format that remains until today.

And you, do you know any other curious facts about the test? Have you run or know someone who has run the race? Tell us!