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Jacob Kiplimo and Berihu Aregawi will race at the Nationale-Nederlanden San Silvestre Vallecana in Madrid, Spain on New Year’s Eve. The 10km race promises to be fast and furious, especially between these two world-class athletes.
Kiplimo, a 24-year-old Ugandan is the world record holder in the half marathon distance having clocked 57:31 in Valencia in 2021. Earlier this year, Kiplimo set a new world best-known time over the 15km distance in Nijmegen, Netherlands. He ran 40:42 to break fellow Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei’s best. Cheptegei ran 41:05 in 2018.
Meanwhile, the 23-year-old Aregawi of Ethiopia is a 12:40.45, 5000-metre runner. He also holds the national record in the 3000m, which he set this summer at 7:21.28. His time is the third-fastest in history behind only Daniel Komen of Kenya and Jakob Ingenbrigtsen of Norway with his world record time of 7:17.25 from July this year in Chorzów, Poland. Komen’s record stood for 26 years. Arehawi’s 5000m best is the eighth fastest time behind six other athletes. The world record is held by Cheptgei who ran 12:35.36 from 2020 during the Monaco Diamond League.
Aregawi is the defending champion at the Madrid event.
Last year Aregawi won the 10km race in the time of 27:16. His personal best is the national record at 26:33. Kiplimo has run 26:48 in January this year in Valencia.
