- If recent form and experience are anything to go by, Kenyan duo Kibiwott Kandie and Alexander Mutiso will start among the favourites.
- Kandie displayed impressive form six weeks ago when he achieved his third victory at the Valencia Half Marathon.
Image: FILE
The Valencia marathon features arguably the year's finest field.
Valencia has witnessed several world records in recent years, and organisers aim for the Spanish coastal city to be the epicentre of the running world again on November 3.
Olympic 5000m champion Joshua Cheptegei will attract much of the attention on Sunday as the Ugandan will be making his first appearance over the classic distance.
The 27-year-old, who is the world record-holder for the 5000m and 10,000m, has fond memories of Valencia as it is where he set a world 10km record of 26:38 in 2019 and the still-standing world 10,000m record of 26:11.00 the following year.
“The marathon is a new challenge for me,” said three-time world 10,000m champion Cheptegei, who has a half marathon PB of 59:21. “After 10 years competing at an international level, I'm thrilled to tackle the longest Olympic distance. The marathon is something new for me and I'm fully aware there is a lot to learn.”
In one of his final sessions before heading to Valencia, Cheptegei reportedly ran a 28km long run timed at 1:25 – an average pace of 3:02/km.
If recent form and experience are anything to go by, Kenyan duo Kibiwott Kandie and Alexander Mutiso will start among the favourites.
Kandie displayed impressive form six weeks ago when achieving his third victory at the Valencia Half Marathon, beating a highly competitive field in 57:40, just nine seconds short of his world record, set three years prior in Valencia.
He has had two prior outings at the marathon distance, but is yet to make his mark; he hopes that Sunday’s race will be third time lucky.
Japan-based Mutiso made a remarkable marathon debut in Valencia last year, placing third in 2:03:29. Valencia is where he also set his half marathon PB of 57:59 in 2020. The 27-year-old won the Prague Marathon earlier this year in 2:05:09.
Titus Kipruto, who has a PB of 2:04:54 and finished eighth at the World Championships in Budapest, will join his Kenyan compatriots on the start line.
A strong Ethiopian contingent is led by the legendary Kenenisa Bekele. The 41-year-old still ranks third on the world all-time list with his 2:01:41 clocking from the 2019 Berlin Marathon. The multiple world and Olympic champion failed to finish the London Marathon earlier this year, so will try to bounce back on Sunday in what will be his first-ever clash against Cheptegei, the man who broke Bekele’s world records on the track.
The former 5000m and 10,000m world record-holder will be joined by his compatriots Leul Gebreselassie, Sisay Lemma, Dawit Wolde and Chalu Deso; the former, winner here in 2018, is the current world bronze medallist and took fourth in London (2:05:45) while Lemma finished runner-up in Prague (2:06:26) but clocked 2:03:36 back in 2019. Wolde is a 2:04:27 athlete with a season best of 2:05:46 in Rotterdam, while Deso has also broken the 2:05 barrier.
Watch out too for Tanzania’s Gabriel Geay and Brazil’s Daniel Do Nascimento. Geay was runner-up in Valencia last year with a PB of 2:03:00, then placed second in Boston earlier this year in 2:06:04. The 27-year-old also finished seventh at the 2022 World Championships, just ahead of Do Nascimento, a 2:04:51 performer.
French duo Morhad Amdouni (2:05:22) and Nico Navarro (2:06:45), Germany's European champion Richard Ringer (2:08:08) plus Spain's Tariku Novales (2:07:18) will be aiming to improve on their respective PBs.
A trio of pacemakers comprising Charles Matata, Hillary Kipkoech, and Bernard Ngeno will dictate a steady 2:54 pace to go through the halfway point in 1:01 in a bid to challenge the course record of 2:01:53 set last year by world record-holder Kelvin Kiptum.