The six men's and women's races in the championship programme took place in Santry Demense on a looped course with flat and grassy ground.

[3] Prior to the championships, eight-time gold medal winner Serhiy Lebid was the favourite for the men's race, with Great Britain's Mo Farah representing the greatest challenge to him.

However, soon after that point, Mo Farah made clear his intention to win the race, increasing the pace and accelerating away from the pack.

[9] Bezabeh, competing in only his second European championships, overtook Farah in the fourth lap and began to create a lead for himself.

[7] Coming in second place, Farah collapsed after the finish line and missed the medal ceremony as he received medical assistance.

Although ahead of the rest of the pack, Lebid was a clear third and was some way off the two frontrunners[9] – an injury two weeks prior to the race had affected his preparations and he was pleased to receive the bronze medal.

Spanish runners Sergio Sánchez and Ayad Lamdassem took fourth and fifth places, all but guaranteeing Spain the men's team gold medal.

[12] During the second lap, the Portuguese runners, along with Rosa María Morató and Adriënne Herzog, remained in pursuit but Ireland's Mary Cullen had faded behind.

[13] Augusto, Monteiro, and Ana Dulce Félix of Portugal filled out the top six finishers; although they had failed to reach the individual podium, the trio and tenth-placed Sara Moreira won the team gold medals by a significant margin.

However, in the final lap, Smaïl broke away from the other two runners and was unchallenged at the finish line,[7] proving his abilities after a disappointing race in 2008.

Jessica Sparke took the bronze, and her teammates Charlotte Browning and Hollie Rowland followed shortly after to continue Great Britain's unbeaten run of gold medals in the women's under-23 team competition.

[13] The European Junior Champion quickly took control of the women's race and managed to hold off Gulshat Fazlitdinova to win the title.