Valencia Half-Marathon beefs up its cohort of elite athletes in the quest for new world records
2 September, 2019
The Valencia-Trinidad Alfonso EDP Half-Marathon announces new international elite athletes on the hunt for world records in both the Men’s and Women’s categories for the trial on the 27th of October in Valencia.
Photos: IAAF, Copenhagen Half-Marathon and Fancy Chemutai
For this edition of the race, Marc Roig, selector of the international elite for the Half-Marathon, has added the names of Yomif Kejelcha, Abadi Hadis, and Fancy Chemutai. They will beef up what is already a very strong cohort of elite athletes. These runners will fly through the streets of Valencia Ciudad del Running in their quest for world records.
The Ethiopian athlete Yomif Kejelcha (59:17 – Copenhagen 2018), will be the first runner from the Nike Oregon Project (an American initiative that brings together some of the world’s best long-distance runners) to compete in Valencia. This year, Yomif set a new indoor record for the mile (3:47.01) and just a few weeks ago in the Ethiopian 10,000-metre trials, he set a sizzling time of just 26:49.99. This makes him a star athlete who is incredibly versatile over almost any long and medium-distance trial.
His fellow-countryman Abadi Hadis (58:44 – Valencia 2018, matching this time at Ras Al-Khaimah in 2019), will again run through Valencia’s streets in his quest for a record. Abadi is also in top form, having run a 10,000-metre trial in July in just 26:56.46.
In the Women’s category, the Kenyan runner Fancy Chemutai, who holds the second-fastest world time ever in the 21,097.5-metre trial (1 hour 04:52), will compete alongside Sembere Teferi in her quest to beat the world record set in 2017 by the Kenyan athlete Joyciline Jepkosgei (1 hour 04:51) in Valencia. Chemutai has now recovered from the spate of injuries she suffered in 2018. She ran the 10,000-metre trial at Peachtree, Atlanta in 30:32.
Thus Yomif, Abadi and Fancy will join other runners who have already confirmed their participation, such as: Stephen Kiprop, who has so far set the fastest time for the half-marathon in 2019 (58:42); Jemal Yimer, a speedy Ethiopian national runner who holds the fourth-fastest ever world record (58:33); the Ethiopian athlete Sembere Teferi.
The Organisers will offer a prize of €70,000 (which will be in addition to the prizes listed in the Regulations) to those athletes setting a new Men’s or Women’s record. There will also be a bonus of €30,000 if the runner sets a time under 58:00 for Men, or a time under 1 hour 04:30 for Women.