Valencia Half Marathon

Annual race in Spain held since 1988 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Valencia Half Marathon (Spanish: Medio Maratón de Valencia) is an annual half marathon road running event held in Valencia, Spain, since 1988. It is categorized as a Gold Label Road Race by World Athletics.[3] The race is organised by the Valencian sports club SD Correcaminos [es], which also organises the annual Valencia Marathon.[4]

Quick Facts Date, Location ...
Valencia Half Marathon
DateOctober
LocationValencia, Spain
Event typeRoad
DistanceHalf marathon
Primary sponsorEDP
Established1988 (37 years ago) (1988)[1]
2006 (19 years ago) (2006) (as half)[1][2]
Course recordsMen: 57:30 (2024)
Yomif Kejelcha
Women: 1:02:52 (2021)
Letesenbet Gidey
Official siteValencia Half Marathon
Participants20,000 (2022),
8,842 finishers (2021)
15,356 (2019)
13,799 (2018)
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The race attracts top level elite competitors from Kenya, Ethiopia and Morocco, as well as runners from the host country Spain.

History

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Perspective

The event was initially founded as a race of 20 km (12 mi), called the "20 kilómetros Adidas", with the inaugural race taking place in 1988.[1] From 1993 to 1995, the race was not contested for reasons beyond the organizer's control.[1]

The race was later lengthened to a half marathon, beginning with the 2006 edition of the race.[1][2][5] The change coincided with a growth in the number of participants and a higher standard of elite level competition. A record 9328 runners from over 10,300 entrants finished the race in October 2013.[6]

On 30 July 2020, the race organizer announced the cancellation of the 2020 in-person edition of the race due to the coronavirus pandemic, with all registrants given the option of transferring their entry to 2021 or obtaining a full refund.[7] About a month later, on 10 September, the organizer announced that the Valencia Marathon (which it also organized and whose mass race was just cancelled days earlier) would hold an "Elite Edition" of the race on 6 December, and that it would also include a half marathon race that year.[8][9] On the day of the race, four half marathon runners broke the previous world record of 58:01, with Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie setting a new world record of 57:32.[10][11]

On 24 October 2021, Letesenbet Gidey ran a time of 1:02:52, breaking Ruth Chepn'getich's previous world record of 1:04:02 by over one minute.[12]

On 27 October 2024, Yomif Kejelcha ran a time of 57:30 to break Jacob Kiplimo's previous world record of 57:31 set in 2021.[13]

Course

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The half marathon starts and finishes on Carrer d'Antonio Ferrandis about 1 km (0.62 mi) southwest of the City of Arts and Sciences.[14]

The course first crosses the City of Arts and Sciences before making a loop around the Camins al Grau [ca] and Algirós [ca] districts for the first third of the race.[14] The half marathon then largely follows the roads along the Garden of the Turia [ca] as it makes its way northwest to Ciutat Vella [ca] and then back to the start.[14]

Winners

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2005 winner Ethiopian Ashu Kasim (pictured here at a 5K in Albany)
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2009 winner Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai (pictured here at the NYC Marathon)

The course records for the half marathon are 57:30 for the men's race (set by Yomif Kejelcha in 2024) and 1:04:51 for the women's race (also a world record at the time, set by Joyciline Jepkosgei in 2017).[15] The latter time is the women's all-comers record for the event in Spain.[16]

Key:    Course record (in bold)

20K

More information Ed., Year ...
Ed. Year Men's winner Time[a] Women's winner Time[a] Rf.
not held from 1993 to 1995 [1]
10 2000  Enock Keter (KEN) 1:00:44  Margaret Ngadi (TZA) 1:13:19 [17][18]
11 2001  Julio Rey (ESP) 1:01:43  Teresa Gracia (ESP) 1:25:36
12 2002  Julio Rey (ESP) 59:46  Margareth Iro (TAN) 1:11:08
13 2003  El Houssine Essemaali (MAR) 1:02:39  Sandra Ruales (ECU) 1:11:09
14 2004  Sawel Kalia (KEN) 1:01:33  Gladys Cherono (KEN) 1:10:28
15 2005  Abdellatif Meftah (MAR) 1:00:46  Ashu Kasim (ETH) 1:09:30
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Half marathon

More information Ed., Year ...
Ed. Year Men's winner Time[a] Women's winner Time[a] Rf.
16 2006  Edwin Koech (KEN) 1:02:48  Joan Aiyabei (KEN) 1:12:48
17 2007  Peter Korir (KEN) 1:02:24  Joan Aiyabei (KEN) 1:11:16
18 2008  Jacob Yator (KEN) 1:01:32  Sarah Kerubo (KEN) 1:15:18
19 2009  Geoffrey Mutai (KEN) 59:30  Beatrice Jepchumba (KEN) 1:15:31
20 2010  John Mwangangi (KEN) 1:01:10  Joyce Chepkirui (KEN) 1:09:25
21 2011  John Mwangangi (KEN) 59:45  Malika Asahssah (MAR) 1:10:26
22 2012  Joel Kimurer (KEN) 59:36  Alice Mogire (KEN) 1:09:57
23 2013  Jacob Kendagor (KEN) 59:58  Joyce Chepkirui (KEN) 1:08:15
24 2014  Abraham Cheroben (KEN) 58:48  Emily Chebet (KEN) 1:08:01
25 2015  Abraham Cheroben (KEN) 59:10  Netsanet Gudeta (ETH) 1:07:31
26 2016  Stephen Kibet (KEN) 59:27  Peres Jepchirchir (KEN) 1:07:09
27 2017  Abraham Cheroben (BHR) 59:11  Joyciline Jepkosgei (KEN) 1:04:51
28 2018  Jemal Yimer (ETH)[b] 58:33  Gelete Burka (ETH) 1:06:11 [15][21][22]
29 2019  Yomif Kejelcha (ETH) 59:05  Senbere Teferi (ETH) 1:05:32
30 2020  Kibiwott Kandie (KEN) 57:32  Genzebe Dibaba (ETH) 1:05:18
31 2021  Abel Kipchumba (KEN) 58:07  Letesenbet Gidey (ETH) 1:02:52 WR
32 2022  Kibiwott Kandie (KEN) 58:11  Konstanze Klosterhalfen (GER) 1:05:41
33 2023  Kibiwott Kandie (KEN) 57:40  Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi (KEN) 1:04:46
34 2024  Yomif Kejelcha (ETH) 57:30  Agnes Ngetich (KEN) 1:03:04 [23]
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Notes

  1. h:m:s
  2. Abraham Kiptum originally won with a world record time of 58:18, but was later disqualified for doping.[19][20]

References

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