Sabastian Kimaru Sawe wins the RomaOstia Half Marathon (© Alfredo Falcone / LaPresse)
Newly minted world half road-running champions Sabastian Sawe and Hagos Gebrhiwet and 2022 world marathon champion Gotytom Gebreslase will be among the favourites at the Valencia Half Marathon Trinidad Alfonso when the World Athletics Elite Label road race gets under way on Sunday (22).
The event has witnessed two world records in recent years, first with Kibiwott Kandie’s 57:32 clocking in 2020 and then with Letesenbet Gidey’s 1:02:52 the following year, so there’s always a certain level of expectation for fast times in the Spanish city.
Sawe, who won the half marathon at the World Road Running Championships in Riga earlier this month in 59:10, leads a strong men’s line-up. The Kenyan is reportedly in the form of his life and is undefeated on the roads this year. His target for this weekend will be to maintain that winning streak while also improving on his PB of 58:02.
His fiercest opposition might come from his fellow Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie, the defending champion. After breaking the world record in Valencia (which was later beaten by Jacob Kiplimo), Kandie returned to Valencia in 2022 and won in 58:10. Earlier this year, he finished ahead of Sawe at the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst and has since enjoyed a solid season on the track and roads.
Gebrhiwet and fellow Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha, who took silver behind Gebrhiwet in the 5km at the World Road Running Championships in Riga, will also be on the start line. Both men enjoyed a strong track campaign this year, setting 5000m PBs of 12:41.73 (Kejelcha) and 12:42.18 (Gebrhiwet), but they also have good pedigree on the roads. Kejelcha won the Valencia Half in 2019 in a PB of 58:32, while Gebrhiwet has a best for the distance of 58:55.
Three other men with sub-59-minute PBs are also in the field.
Kenya’s Matthew Kimeli clocked 58:43 in Valencia in 2021 and is fresh from a 10-mile win in Zaandam last month. Stephen Kiprop set his PB of 58:42 when winning the Ras Al-Khaimah Half Marathon, but he hasn’t competed since that year. Ethiopia’s 2021 world U20 3000m champion Tadese Worku made a promising half marathon debut in Valencia last year in 58:47 and heads to Spain off the back of a 27:35 10km victory in Prague.
Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega should also be in contention. The Ethiopian has contested just one half marathon to date, clocking 1:00:39 at the Great North Run, which is a course not eligible for records or PBs.
Spain's Carlos Mayo (1:00:06 in Valencia in 2020) and Italy's Pietro Riva (1:00:30 in Valencia last year) are also entered.
Three pacemakers will set off at a pace to help the field achieve a finishing time in the region of 58 minutes, which would be enough to improve on the world-leading mark of 58:36.
Gebreslase takes on Chelimo
The women's contest looks set to be a battle between three global medallists: Ethiopia's Gotytom Gebreslase, Kenya's Margaret Chelimo and Germany's Melat Kejeta.
After winning the 2022 world marathon title in a PB of 2:18:11, Gebreslase took silver over the same distance at this year’s World Championships in Budapest. This weekend in Valencia, the 28-year-old will hope to improve upon the PB of 1:05:36 she set a couple of years ago in Manama.
Chelimo will be one of the most versatile athletes on Sunday’s start line. She boasts PBs of 8:21.53 for 3000m and 14:23.67 for 5000m, and took world silver over the latter distance in 2019. After taking world 10,000m bronze in 2022, she added another global medal to her collection at the World Road Running Championships in Riga three weeks ago, taking silver in the half marathon. Her PB for that distance in 1:05:26. Valencia is also where she set her 10km PB of 29:50.
Kejeta is the fastest woman in the field, thanks to the 1:05:18 PB she clocked when taking silver at the 2020 World Half Marathon Championships. After placing sixth in the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics, Kejeta went on maternity leave in 2022, but returned to action this year and placed 11th in the marathon at the World Championships.
Irene Cheptai, who placed sixth in the 10,000m at the Tokyo Olympics and set a half marathon PB of 1L05:53 to win in Copenhagen five weeks ago, should also be a top contender.
Ethiopia’s Ftaw Zeray, Nigsti Haftu and Tigist Gezahagn will also be in the mix. Zeray placed sixth at the World Road Running Championships and has a 1:06:04 PB, set earlier this year in Ras Al Khaimah. Haftu set her PB of 1:06:17 in Valencia in 2021, while T13 (visual impairment) Paralympic 1500m champion Gezahagn won this year’s Granollers Half Marathon in a PB of 1:06:41.
Britain's Samantha Harrison, who set a half marathon PB of 1:07:17 earlier this year and went on to place ninth at the World Road Running Championships, is also in the field.
Pacemakers have been instructed to cover the first 10km in 30:40, which would set up the field to finish inside the world-leading mark of 1:04:37.
More than 100 nationalities will be represented in the mass race of 22,000 competitors. Weather forecasters call for a cloudy and windless day with temperature about 15C at the time of the event.
Emeterio Valiente for World Athletics
