The best marathoners of the world come to Valencia and aim at beating the course record

Some of the best athletes in the world will take part in the Trinidad Alfonso EDP Valencia Marathon, organized by SD Correcaminos and the Valencia City Government, that will be held on Sunday. Outstanding athletes will compete against more than 19,000 marathoners who will run 42,195 metres along the streets of Valencia. Some of those athletes are John Nzau Mwangangi, the current winner of the Valencian race, consistent winners such as Geoffrey Mutai and other athletes such as Getu Feleke Zegeye, whose mark is 2:04:50. In the female category, the two-time winner Beata Naigambo, who also ran the Valencia Half Marathon will strive to win for the third time since she will have to pit herself against Betelhem Cherenet (2:24:29) and two more women with times under 02:26:00.

The aim of this edition is to beat the course record again. In order to do so, the race managers, Rachid Ben Meziane and Paco Borao, relied on top athletes who are capable of finishing the race in around 2 hours 5 minutes for men and 2 hours 25 minutes for women. The current course record is held by the last race winners John Nzau Mwangangi with a time of 2:06:13, and Beata Naigambo, who did a time of 2:26:57.

Most of these runners are Kenyan and Ethiopian but there will also be a group of Spanish runners (six men and two women) ready to achieve their personal best, including Rafa Iglesias and the Valencian athlete Marta Esteban. In addition, 23 runners have chosen Valencia to make the leap to the 42,195 metre race.

Dozens of runners will strive for a personal best

The new program of the 2016 edition,‘Personal Best‘, encourages top athletes from al over the world to take part in the Valencia Marathon. There are dozens of runners who have chosen Valencia to improve their personal best. The organization will cover their accommodation expenses and they will receive prizes from €2,000 to €4,000 if they manage to improve their personal best and achieve a mark under 02:20:00 for men and 02:45:00 for women.

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