Perez crossed the line in two hours, 37 minutes, and 15 seconds in Podebrady, Czech Republic, more than eight minutes ahead of her nearest challenger, compatriot Raquel Gonzales. Cristina Montesinos finished third to complete a clean sweep for Spain.

The Spaniard – setting the first-ever official world record by a Spanish athlete, subject to ratification – eclipsed the mark set by Peru’s Kimberly Garcia in Dudince earlier this season to break the tape in 2:37:15 to become the first Spaniard to break a world record in any athletics discipline since Francisco Fernandez broke the world 10,000m race walk record in 2008.

“It is a nice feeling to finish the race and the time is a big reward for this,” Perez said.

“I did not think of any time or any special target before the start, I just wanted to finish the best I could.”

Perez’s time will go through World Athletics’ ratification procedure, which is usual practice when records are broken.

Perez strolled home to beat the second-placer by more than eight minutes around the 1km Lazensky Park course and after a swift 9:35 through 2km, she was leading many of the men following a combined start.

By 4km, she was already lapping some of the back markers in the women’s field. Chasing the Spaniard – if you could call it that – were her teammates Raquel Gonzalez and Cristina Montesinos and Italy’s Federica Curiazzi, who by 6km were 47 seconds down.

A lap later it was 59 seconds and growing to widen just about each of the remaining 28 laps.

According to the European Athletics