Defending champion Kenyan John Korir announced on social media that he’s returning to the Valencia Marathon: “See you at the Valencia Marathon, my next stop.”
That means he’ll face off directly against Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha, who broke 2:00 in his marathon debut.
Meanwhile, the Valencia organizers have also released portions of the men’s and women’s elite fields — a once-in-a-century showdown is about to ignite.
01
Korir VS Kejelcha
Will we witness another breaking-of-2 moment?
John Korir refreshed his PB to 2:02:24 to win Valencia last year. He’s carried that form into this season — six days before the London Marathon he ran 2:01:52 to break Boston’s 14-year-old course record. A 2:01 at Boston carries very high credibility.
Yomif Kejelcha made his marathon debut at this year’s London Marathon, running 1:59:41 to become the second person in history to break 2:00 and the fastest ever in a marathon debut. Valencia will be his second career marathon.
Valencia’s course is familiar to him: in 2024 he set the half-marathon world record there with 57:30. He’s also won the Valencia Half twice (2019 and 2025) and finished second in 2022 and 2023.
Image credit: Official London Marathon
Beyond Korir and Kejelcha, this year’s Valencia field is deep. Two athletes have PBs under 2:04 — Alexander Munyao (PB 2:03:11) and Dawit Wolde (PB 2:03:48) — and three more have PBs around 2:04: Nibret Melak (2:04:00), Leul Gebreselassie (2:04:02) and Awet Kibrab (2:04:24).
It was the right mix of factors — fast course, deep elite field, favorable conditions — that made the first human sub-2 at the London Marathon possible. Valencia Marathon also offers those conditions, so could we witness another sub-2 moment?
02
Defending champion vs the fastest-ever women’s marathon debut
The women’s race is also packed with intrigue. Joyciline Jepkosgei set a lifetime best of 2:14:00 in Valencia last year and will return this year to defend her title.
Her biggest rival is Fotyen Tesfay, the fastest women’s marathon debutant, who won this year’s Barcelona Marathon in 2:10:51 and became the second-fastest woman in history.TesfayShe has also run the Valencia Half twice, finishing second in 2024 and 2025 with times of 1:03:21 and 1:05:10.
So who will have the last laugh between the two? Is there a chance to see a new women’s world record?
Image credit: Official Barcelona Marathon
In addition, the women’s elite field includes Lilian Kasait, who made her marathon debut this year in Daegu with 2:19:35; she also raced the Valencia Half, placing third in 2024 with 1:03:32.
U.S. national record holder Emily Sisson (2:18:29) and Kenya’s Winnie Jepkosgei (marathon debut) will also compete. The full elite roster will be released in October.
The 2026 Valencia Marathon will be held on December 6, the same day as the Shanghai Marathon. Run or watch Shanghai in the morning, then you can watch Valencia in the afternoon — it’s going to be a busy weekend.
[End-of-article interaction]
Text / Editor: CC
Image source: Paoye Dabaozha
Visual: Max
