The current Marathon world champion (Oregon 2022) Ethiopian Tamirat Tola was perhaps the biggest favorite to win at Valencia with his personal record of 2:03:39, but Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum made a surprise and not only won the Trinidad Alfonso Valencia Marathonbut it improved the test record by entering the finish line with a stratospheric time of 2:01:53, well below Evans Chebet’s 2:03:00 in the 2020 Elite Edition, marked by the absence of popular drivers for the pandemic.

At kilometer 23, up to fifteen runners shared the lead with the three rabbits, but the men’s race broke down at kilometer 29 when Tola pulled together with two other athletes. Kenyan debutant Kelvin Kiptum and Tanzanian Gabriel Geaybroke the test record (1h27.34) to pass the 30th km in 8 seconds.

Just 23 years old and with experience of running the last two Valencia half marathons in 2020 58:42 and 2021 59:02, Kiptum soon found himself alone at the start of the race.with the people who carried him on their wings for the last mile.

And not only did he set the test record, but with an unofficial time of 2:01:53, achieved the third-best score in history in the marathon. Only two legends such as Bekele and Kipchoge survived their time. A historic record for Valencia.