62 Although the world records were blown away by the wind, the Valencia Half Marathon saw some spectacular performances and a new European record for the distance The Valencia Half Marathon Trinidad Alfonso Zurich 2025 will also go down in history for its records. There was not just one cherry on the cake in the form of a world record; in fact, there were many. The European record set by Sweden’s Andreas Almgren (58:41) rounded off the success of an event that also saw the fastest women’s time of the year. Despite the rain and windy conditions along some sections of the course, no one in 2025 has run as fast as Kenyan Agnes Jebet Ngetich (1:03:08) did in Valencia Ciudad del Running. Ngetich had predicted that the world record was within her grasp, and for part of the race it seemed a real possibility. However, the wind during the second half of the race caused her to lose those crucial seconds she needed to break the world record set by Letesenbet Gidey (1:02:52) in 2021, also in Valencia. Despite everything, against all the odds, and isolated and far ahead of her pursuers, Ngetich literally ran the race of the year. Not only did she make history by taking a podium place, she also smashed what had been the best women’s time of the season up until the moment she crossed the finish line. She slashed it by almost half a minute. And ran the third best time in history. Pretty impressive. In the men’s category, Yomif Kejelcha (58:02) set off at a blistering pace. The current official world record holder for the distance, and winner in Valencia in 2024 when he set the current ratified world record for the half marathon (57:30), Ngetich and Almgren treat Valencia to the half marathon of the year began his defence of his crown making no secret of his intention to smash his own record. He tried, and how he tried. The Ethiopian, once he got going, did not hesitate and soon set a blistering pace that was impossible for the other elite runners to match: at the 5-kilometre mark, with a time of 13:35. He was on his own at Viveros. His only rivals were the drizzle that was already dampening the streets and a wind that, at that moment, was not yet set to blow away any chances of a record. That came a little later. Because with the wind against him, Kejelcha was chasing his time from a year ago. Used to brushing opponents aside, the world record holder was just about able to match his previous time until he reached the 15-kilometre mark. Now heading into the final stretch of the race and running towards the port area, the wind was hindering him almost as much as his stomach was. Besides the weather, this was his real handicap: his intestinal problems, which, as he himself acknowledged after crossing the finish line, ultimately prevented him from breaking the record. They did not prevent him, however, from conquering Valencia for a third time.
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