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Kenyan Evans Chebet outkicked fellow countryman Lawrence Cherono to finish the Valencia Marathon in a stunning 2:03:00, a new course record on Sunday. Cherono is no slouch as he is currently the defending Chicago and Boston Marathon champion. The winning time is the seventh-fastest ever. Four Berlin and two London performances are ahead of this one, led by Eliud Kipchoge’s 2:01:39 from the 2018 running of the Berlin Marathon. The 32-year-old Chebet is now the sixth-fastest person of all-time.
Cherono, finished in 2:03:04, a new personal best. Birhanu Legese of Ethiopia finished third in 2:03:16. Legese, however, did not set a personal best, as he has run 2:02:48 in Berlin last year.
Women’s marathon
Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir set a new course record with her win in the time of 2:17:16. It was a massive six-minute personal best. Jepchirchir twice this year broke the world record for the women’s only half-marathon.
The 27-year-old ran a 65:17 performance to win the World Half Marathon Championships in October. She also owns a best of 65:06 from 2017.
Kenyan Joyciline Jepkosgei finished second in 2:18:14, while Helalia Johannes, 40, of Namibia, clocked a jaw-dropping 2:19:52 for third. This is a new masters W40 world record by more than two minutes. The previous record is 2:22:11 by Kenyan Lydia Cheromei from Valencia two years ago. This performance was a lifetime personal best. She owns three national records including a masters half-marathon best of 68:10 set earlier this year.
