The athlete Kibiwot Kandie and the German Konstanze Klosterhalfen won the 31st edition of the Trinidad Alfonso Zurich Valencia Half Marathonwhere the Kenyan athlete won with a great superiority with a time of 58:11 minutes, while Koko gave a surprise in his debut at the distance and became the first European to win this race.
A few minutes before the race it rained in the city causing high humidity that hurt the Elite runners in a race attended by 20,000 famous runners.
Kandie, who two years ago broke the world record in the same attempt that a year later was snatched from him in Lisbon by Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo by just one second, achieved the seventh best mark of all time and the second of the yearafter beating Yomif Kejelcha to the finish line, who broke the Ethiopian record and came in 21 seconds later, while Kenyan Daniel Kibet Mateiko completed the podium 39 seconds behind the winner.
The ‘hares’ controlled the race, although during the first kilometers it was appreciated by the time marks (13:57 at kilometer 5) that, as the organization saw, the aim was not to attack the world record but to try to get the best world record of the year.
After half a point of the race, the favorites led a sextet by its head and Kandie, the big favorite, changed the pace at kilometer 13 and left Kejelcha, Kimutai and Mateiko with amazing ease. From then until the end no one could keep up with the Kenyan who did not beat the best time of the year but managed a fantastic time to seal his second victory in Valencia.
In the women’s race, Koko, the current European champion of 5,000 meters, remained at the head of the race from the start. proving himself on his debut over the distance and as the test progressed he eliminated his rivals until Tsigie Grebeselama remained as the sole partner in the lead.
The German left the young Ethiopian in the last kilometer and gained a few meters of advantage which was enough to become the first European to win in Valencia and end African dominance with a time of 1:05:41. Grebeselama finished second five seconds behind, while his compatriot Hawi Feysa was third 19 seconds behind the winner.
The first Spanish runner to cross the finish line was ‘Chiki’ Pérez while among the women, Fatima Ouhaddou prevailed.
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
