Abdelmajid El Hissouf is an upcoming talent from Morocco. As a junior runner, he competed in the 2010 and 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. He made his marathon debut at the 2015 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, but was unable to finish the race. Two months later, he placed sixth at the Rabat City International Marathon and then improved his time in the fall to 2:10:35 with an eighth place finish at the Seoul JoongAng Marathon. His best half marathon was run at the 2015 Incheon Half Marathon, where he finished third in 1:02:11. El Hissouf was recently selected to train for the national team and, as the third-fastest Moroccan marathoner in 2015, believes he has a chance of representing his country in the 2016 Olympics.

El Hissouf trains at altitude in the Atlas Mountains, outside of Beni Mellal in northeastern Morocco. He spends most of his time training, but also spends time with his parents Aicha and Mohammed and his three brothers Abdellatif, Khalid, and Ahmed. El Hissouf’s hobbies include swimming and soccer.

“Running Boston has been a dream of mine; I am competing to win a place on my country’s Olympic marathon team in Rio.”