It is named as a memorial of local runner Juan Muguerza, a multiple national champion who was killed in 1937 during the bombing of Mungia in the Spanish Civil War.
Ethiopian runner Mamo Wolde was the first foreign winner and he went on to score three more victories that decade.
[4] Having been held every year since 1943, with the exception of cancellations in 1950 and 1981, the Cross Juan Muguerza is one of the longest-running competitions of its type in Spain.
[7] The elite events attract the highest level of international runners, with past winners including IAAF World Cross Country Championships gold medallists Kenenisa Bekele, Paul Tergat, John Ngugi, Derartu Tulu and Edith Masai.
Among them, world medallists Mariano Haro and Carmen Valero won in Elgoibar in the 1970s, while prominent Portuguese athletes Paulo Guerra and Fernanda Ribeiro took the top honours in the 1990s.