Almost four thousand applications were received by organisers from people all over Portugal and beyond wanting to take part in Lisbon’s first underground run, which was limited to 100 places.
Held by the Discovery Channel in partnership with NOS, the Discovery Underground Lisboa took place during the early hours of Sunday morning, when the ten kilometres between the airport and São Sebastião were opened up especially for the event.
Each participant was chosen for their personal stories of strength and survival, perseverance and persistence. Among them were a witness of the Boston Marathon bombings, who helped the victims, and a serviceman who took part in a dangerous NATO mission in Afghanistan.
Elena Hermosilla, Marketing and Communication Senior Manager for Discovery Spain and Portugal, said: “Portugal is, for us, a key market and our initiatives from previous years were always well received. We are pleased with the success of Discovery Underground Lisbon, which exceeded all our expectations.”
NOS’ Residential Product & Marketing Director Alexandre Martins added the company “thanks Portugal for its enthusiastic and massive response to joining this challenge. It’s another stage in the relationship between Discovery and NOS that has been successfully fulfilled. We were the first operator to integrate the channel into our grid and today we continue to be two winning teams in our areas of operation, these being the values of adventure and entertainment that are in the DNA of the two brands.”
Fronting Discovery Underground Lisboa was national triple-jumping champion and Olympic medallist Nelson Évora, who was the event’s official starter.
Runners set off at 2.30am and the first to complete the 12-station underground route along the tunnel was 26-year-old Tiago Cantante Romão, who finished in 38 minutes.