Valencia Half and Marathon will penalise elite athletes who compete in too many competitions

The Valencia Half Marathon and Marathon Trinidad Alfonso EDP, organised by SD Correcaminos and Valencia City Council, with the collaboration of the Trinidad Alfonso Foundation, will penalise contracted professional athletes who compete in long-distance races in the days before the event.

The Covid-19 situation has concentrated the majority of the year’s road races into an autumn calendar covering just four months, so there is a risk runners will become overstretched, subject to long journeys, missing essential training, deprived of rest and subject to continuous stress.

“Participating in several marathons or half-marathons in a short period of time worsens the quality of life of top-level runners and prevents them from enjoying a full and long-lasting sporting career. Very few people, if any, benefit from competing in this way, only thinking in the short term, in the here and now. For this reason, and because we only want figures competing in Valencia who are committed to the sporting objectives we set ourselves, we are going to establish contractual clauses that reduce the fees paid to anyone who is too active in the weeks prior to the races”, said Juan Manuel Botella, Elite Coordinator.

In the case of the marathon, if a professional athlete finishes a marathon 100 days before, or a half 30 days before or a 10K 15 days before 5 December, their participation fees, as the professional athletes they are, will be reduced by 50%. In the case of the half, if an elite athlete finishes a marathon 85 days before, a half 21 days before or a 10K 7 days before 24 October, their fees will be reduced by 50%.

“We want to help runners focus on their goals, which this year will be more ambitious than ever in Valencia. We will not treat professionals as commodities, nor as passengers on a frenetic tour of the World Athletics calendar. We know that we have the understanding of the coaches, representatives, federations and the majority of athletes in the common purpose of building faster but also more humane events that guarantee the health and high performance of the elite athletes”, adds Botella.

52 athletes from 22 countries among the MyBest42 elite

In addition to the contracted elite athletes, the Valencia Marathon will activate the MyBest42 programme again this year, with the participation of 52 athletes from 22 different countries, who will come to Valencia City of Running with the intention of achieving their personal best in a marathon. They are top-level runners in their respective countries, not all of them professionals, who are struggling to make their way in the world of athletics or to improve their performance. These athletes, who run under 2h15:00 (men) and under 2h36:00 (women), will not receive a fee for participating, but they will receive elite treatment and a full three-day all-expenses-paid stay in Valencia.