Dream times at the last big marathon of the year: The Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum made the fastest debut in the history of the classic 42.195 km in Valencia and ran in 2:01:53 hours in third place on the “all-time” best list.
In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s Amane Beriso also placed third among the fastest runners in marathon history with a time of 2:14:58 hours.
In perfect conditions, the 23-year-old Kiptum missed the world record set by his compatriot Eliud Kipchoge from the Berlin marathon in September (2:01:09) by just 44 seconds. In addition to Kipchoge and the Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele (2:01:41), Kiptum is now the third member of the “Sub 2:02 Club”.
Beriso ranked among the historically best athletes behind world record holder Brigid Kosgei (2:14:04) and her Kenyan compatriot Ruth Chepngetich (2:14:18). 10,000 m world champion Letesenbet Gidey and her compatriot Beriso were on course for a world record for a long time and ultimately ran the best women’s debut in history in 2:16:58 hours.