Degefa and Lemma lead avalanche of fast times at Valencia Marathon – AW

Ethiopian victories for Worknesh Degefa and Sisay Lemma as British athletes shine and multiple national records fall in the ciudad del running

Across the finish line they charged, punching the air with delight. Valencia is known as the ‘ciudad del running’ and it once again lived up to its reputation as PB after PB fell. Ethiopian duo Sisay Lemma and Worknesh Degefa led the way with 2:01:48 and 2:15:51 victories. Behind, there was a spate of fast times as world rankings were revised and national records rewritten.

Spain’s third largest city is known for its paella and its busy port. Yet for runners it is increasingly known as the place to go for a fast time.

This was the case again on Sunday (Dec 3) as thousands of marathoners took advantage of perfect conditions under crystal clear blue skies before running their final few hundred metres on a blue carpet at the picturesque Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias.

Lemma broke Kelvin Kiptum’s one-year-old course record of 2:01:53 but frustratingly finished seven seconds outside Kenenisa Bekele’s Ethiopian record as the 32-year-old went No.4 on the world all-time rankings.

Runner-up Alexander Mutiso of Kenya ran 2:03:11, Dawit Wolde of Ethiopia 2:03:48 in third and Bekele clocked a world masters record of 2:04:19 at the age of 41 in fourth.

Degefa, meanwhile, went No.7 on the world all-time women’s rankings as she beat fellow Ethiopian Almaz Ayana by just over half a minute.

In search of fast times, British runners descended on Valencia en masse and it was worth the trip for many. Clara Evans ran a Welsh record of 2:25:04, just ahead of Lily Partridge, who battled back from injury problems to smash her PB with 2:25:12 – both runners inside the Olympic women’s qualifying standard of 2:26:50 as they went No.7 and No.8 on the UK all-time rankings.

Also excelling was Sonia Samuels as the 44-year-old Brit only missed her PB by five seconds with 2:28:09.

Mahamed Mahamed was first British man home in 2:08:42, just ahead of Phil Sesemann, who clocked 2:08:49, as they went No.7 and No.8 on the UK all-time men’s rankings. It was Mahamed’s debut marathon while Sesemann smashed his 2:10:23 PB.

Not everyone had a good day, though. Joshua Cheptegei, the world 5000m and 10,000m record-holder from Uganda, just about stayed on his feet in the final metres as he staggered across the line in 37^th in 2:08:59 on his marathon debut.

As the race got underway at 8.15am local time, there was a strong pace from the start with a large men’s lead group that included Lemma, Cheptegei, Kibiwott Kandie, Gabriel Geay, Dawit Wolde and Chalu Deso passing halfway in 60:35. At this stage Bekele was dropped and running alone about 20 seconds behind the leaders, but the former world 5000m and 10,000m record-holder was clearly running a sensible solo race.

Sesemann led the Brits through halfway in 64:02, while the top women passed 13.1 miles in 67:28 as Degefa and Ayana were joined by Melat Kejeta and Hiwot Gebrekidan and surrounded by a large number of men, including Britain’s Dan Nash.

As the leading men passed 30km in 86:04, Lemma led from Kandie and Wolde with Cheptegei struggling and dropped. Around 35km, though, Lemma drew away from his rivals and went from strength to strength in the final miles as went on to win by more than a minute.

Wolde held on for third place despite being overtaken by the fast-finishing Mutiso, but former world half-marathon record-holder Kandie fell back to sixth at the finish in 2:04:48.

“It’s my first time in Valencia and I’m very happy to win and break the course record,” beamed Lemma, whose pre-race accomplishments included winning the 2021 London Marathon.

Other notable male finishers included Tariku Novales, who ran a Spanish record of 2:05:48. French record-holder Morhan Amdouni clocked 2:06:55 – remarkably only fourth Frenchman home behind Mehdi Frère (2:05:43), Nicolas Navarro (2:05:53) and Félix Bour (2:06:46).

European champion Richard Ringer of Germany wound up with 2:07:05. Even Reyes Estevez, a world 1500m medallist back in the 1990s, got in the act with a 2:18:17 clocking aged 47.

Degefa, the 2019 Boston Marathon winner, began to draw away from Ayana in the second half of the race, only for Ayana to doggedly rejoin her in the lead. But Degefa eventually broke Ayana’s resistance by moving away with about five miles to go.

It proved a great day for Ethiopia with both male and female victories and Gebrekidan making it an Ethiopian one-two-three in the women’s race with 2:17:59.

In fourth, Celestine Chepchirchir of Kenya ran 2:20:46, with Majida Maayouf of Spain and Sultan Haydar of Turkey both clocking 2:21:27 in fifth and sixth as the two women broke their national records.

What’s more, Maayouf was one of three Spanish women who went inside the national record of 2:26:14, which was set by Marta Galimany in Valencia 12 months ago, as Fatima Azaharaa Ouhaddou clocked 2:25:30 and debutante Laura Luengo 2:25:35.

After rupturing her Achilles in the Tokyo Olympics steeplechase and becoming a mum in 2022, Genevieve Gregson of Australia ran a five-minute PB of 2:23:08. Hot on her heels was Sofiia Yaremchuk, who ran an Italian record of 2:23:16.

Not far behind was another Australian, Izzi Batt-Doyle, with 2:23:27 as Gerda Steyn followed in a South African record of 2:24:03.

A further few seconds back, yet another Australian, the veteran marathon runner Lisa Weightman, ran 2:24:18 at the age of 44 in a quest to become the first track and field athlete from her country to compete in five Olympics.

As the fast times kept coming, Ecuador’s Silvia Ortiz Morocho ran a South American record of 2:24:50.

Such was the standard, Evans and Partridge finished 20^th and 21^st overall as 30 women broke 2:26:00.

Just outside that barrier with 2:26:19 was Fionnuala McCormack of Ireland, who gave birth to her third child this year and who is due to make her 18^th appearance at the European Cross Country Championships next weekend in Brussels, in addition to possibly a fifth Olympics in Paris.

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