Back in 2021, Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey shattered the half-marathon world record at the Valencia Half Marathon, clocking a jaw-dropping 1:02:52, remarkably, in her debut half marathon, after breaking multiple records in distance running. Her feat was deemed untouchable by the track world… until this year. At the Valencia Marathon, Kenyan long-distance star Agnes Ngetich came tantalizingly close to toppling Gidey’s mark, while several other long-standing records crumbled under the event’s lightning-fast pace, including the European Half-Marathon record.

So, what went down? In the women’s race, Ngetich once again came close to Gidey’s four-year-old world record of 62:52, crossing the line in a scorching 63:08, just 16 seconds shy of the record and four seconds slower than her own PB from last year’s Valencia victory. After blazing through the first 10km in 29:28, Ngetich fought against fierce headwinds in the final stretch, and was unable to keep up her pace. She fell just short of history, though she was projected to break the record at the 15km mark.

Ahead of the race, when the media asked her about her goals, the athlete revealed that she aimed to challenge the world record set by the Ethiopian, even before the race began. “The world record is there. I’ll go for it, but it depends on how my body responds. The plan is to aim for the record, but we’ll have to see how the weather and my body feel. I pray to meet expectations in the race and be faster than last year,” said the athlete.

Despite falling just short of her goals, Ngetich cut an optimistic figure after the race. “I know I have the world record in my legs and my splits were inside that pace until 15km,” she said. “Even without breaking the world record, I’m satisfied as I have competed in Valencia three times (once over 10km and twice over the half marathon) and I have won all of them.”

Ngetich may have fallen just short, however, that was not the case for Sweden’s Andreas Almgren. Almgren made history at the Valencia Half-Marathon by becoming the first European to break the 59-minute barrier. This achievement at Valencia marked his third European record of 2025. Previously, he kicked off the year smashing the 10km record in Valencia with 26:53, and then he continued his advance, later setting a new European 5000m best of 12:44.27 on home soil in Stockholm.

Well, that’s not all, the 30-year-old claimed his first major senior medal, a bronze in the World Athletics Championships. At the very end, Emily Haggard-Kearney set a new club half-marathon record at the Valencia Half Marathon, clocking an incredible 1:12:42. And that’s not all, there was another record as well.

Alex Yee breaks into the top 20 at the Valencia Half Marathon

Olympic triathlon gold medalist Alex Yee certainly made a statement in his half-marathon debut, finishing 19th in Valencia with an impressive 1:01:30.  Yee focused on running triathlon; however, he had a shift in his mind. The athlete used one of the world’s fastest 13.1-mile races to showcase just how sharp his training has become. Well, truth to be told, the athlete made a stunning marathon debut this year, finishing 14th at the London Marathon, clocking 2:11:08,

However, he’s confident of slicing that down significantly at the Valencia Marathon on Sunday, December 7. How? Well, age-graded calculations from his recent half-marathon suggest he could hit around 2:08. If we were to talk about the marathon, then it had cooler conditions that greeted the runners compared to the previous day’s scorching 30°C heat. Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha successfully defended his title, though he fell short of his 57:30 from last year

Records kept falling at the Valencia Half-Marathon, and athletes are more motivated than ever to push the limits in the future. What are your predictions for the full marathon? Share your thoughts in the comments below.