Valencia Half picks athletes in bid to be fastest

One edition after getting a stratospheric female record (Gidey, 1:02:52) and two years after reaching the male record (Kandie, 57:32), the goal will be to get as close as possible to these fantastic times and have the fastest run of the year 2022.

Kenyans Kibiwott Kandie (57:32), Sebastian Sawe (58:02) and Daniel Mateiko (58:26) will be the big favourites in the elite men’s field with six athletes with personal bests under 59 minutes and a total of eleven athletes with best times under an hour.

Among the women the Kenyans Vicoty Chepngeno (1:05:03) and Margaret Chelimo (1:05:26), who, along with Ethiopian Hawi Feysa (1:05:41), are favourites.

But the Valencia Half Marathon Trinidad Alfonso Zurich not only bets on these names already acclaimed in search of their best times and triumph, but also focuses on interesting débuts for the 21,097.5-metre circuit. Among these débuts, the Ethiopian runner Tadese Worku and the German athlete Konstanze Klosterhalfen stand out, promising quality and ambition at their first event.

Marc Roig, recruiter of the Valencia Half Marathon international elite, admitted that “world records cannot be achieved every year, and Valencia’s level featuring the world’s second best record for males and the WR for females means we should demand a lot but not pressure ourselves with new world records. But I am convinced that the quality of the elite that will run this half-marathon will be news around the world again thanks to its high standards.”