Fast times in 10K Valencia Ibercaja

With some bravado front-running Daniel Ebenyo slipped under 27 minutes without the services of pacemakers, while Norah Jeruto had no one but (male) pacemakers for company as she dropped the rest of the field just after halfway. She strode away to a 30:35 win, although Karoline Grovdal was closing her down quickly in the final stages.

It was Jeruto’s fourth attempt to win this race after podium finishes in her previous efforts. She started as favourite and was paced through the first half in a steady 15:18. A headwind then hit but Jeruto took it as a cue to make her break and left other contenders strung out behind her. Karoline Grovdal, chasing Paula Radcliffe’s European record of 30:21, steadied herself before upping her effort in the final stages to finish three seconds behind Jeruto.

Without a designated pacemaker it was Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Gudeta who led his competitors through the early stages and reached 5km with only Ebenyo alongside him. From then on Ebenyo took over, opening up a gap which he gradually increased all the way to the finish to record a resounding new personal best of 26:58, and seventh place on the all-time list.