By Şevket F. ERBAY
The year-ending marathon madness once hit in Valencia! The Spanish city, known as "Ciudad de Running", has secured the top spot in the world ranking for women as Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenya beat world champion Peres Jepchirchir to run an epic 2:14:00 at the finish.
Women's race featured the last two world champions in the startlist, Amane Beriso and Peres Jepchirchir, but another heavyweight Joyciline Jepkosgei claimed a brilliant victory with one of the fastest times in history. She ran with Peres Jepchirchir and even dropped twice during the second half, but she fought back to get the lead. Jepkosgei covered 16:02 in the split between 35-40K, then closed the race in a high-class effort thanks to her training partner Julius Bwamwok, who helped both Kenyan stars through the race.
Joyciline Jepkosgei's 2:14:00 mark registered as the fourth fastest of all-time behind Ruth Chepngetich, Tigst Assefa and Sifan Hassan to beat former world record holder Brigid Kosgei's 2:14:04 from Chicago. Jepkosgei will celebrate her 32nd birthday on Monday with a brand-new personal best and a Valencia course record, which means an extra 25,000 euros in her bank account.
HERBIET SURPRISE
Former Olympic and current world marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir also cut off personal best time enormously. She ran the entire race at a 3:10 kilometre pace but lost her rhythm in the final few kilometres. Jepchichir lowered PB to 2:14:43, catapulting her name into sixth place from 12th spot in the all-time list.
Most surprisingly, Belgian athlete Chloe Herbiet stuns the field to get podium place in Valencia. The 2024 Olympian and European half-marathon champion from the Road Running Championships, Herbiet broke the 23-year-old Belgian record by three minutes to clock a stunning time of 2:20:38. Her followers, Alisa Vainio (2:20:48) and Jess Stanson (2:21:24) were also broke their national records for Finland and Australia, respectively.
VICTORIOUS KORIR, JOYFUL PETROS
Two-time World Marathon Major champion John Korir took the men's title in Valencia with a career-best 2:02:24. He increased the pace in the last 10 kilometres with a solo run, lowering the projected time by almost a minute from mid-2:03. Korir registered a 60:37 negative split in the second half and acquired the fourth fastest time ever recorded in Valencia.
World silver medallist Amanal Petros broke the German record by more than 50 seconds to claim runner-up position at the beautiful finish line in front of El Hemisferic, a complex of modern art and entertainment. Petros recorded 2:04:03 while he travelled 37 seconds quicker in the second half after his halfway passing. Around 40 kilometres, the German athlete gave a high-five to Awet Kibrab of Norway for his great help to pace, was one of the nicest scenes in the race. On top of that, Kibrab broke Norwegian record as well.
The Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee of Great Britain has finished seventh with 2:06:38 - four and a half minutes better than his previous PB! - as the course record holder Sisay Lemma came home as 25th just inside of 2:09. In total, the 32 athletes broke the 2:10 mark in Valencia and 24 female contestants have dipped under two hours and thirty minutes.
