Kelvin Kiptum and Amane Beriso Shankule claimed victories at the Valencia Marathon 2022 that took place on December 4, 2022 in Valencia, Spain
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Kelvin Kiptum and Amane Beriso Shankule claimed victories at the Valencia Marathon 2022 that took place on December 4, 2022 in Valencia, Spain. Kiptum and Beriso were both unexpected winners. Kiptum who has a half marathon best of 58:42 from Valencia in 2020 had not finished a race of any distance since October 2021. Beriso, who debuted in Dubai in 2016 and has a personal best of 2:20:48, did not race from January 2020 to August 2022. She won the Mexico City Marathon on August 28 in 2:25:05 while ascending more than 7,000 feet. Only 14 weeks later, she set a new personal best of nearly six minutes to become the third-fastest woman in history.
In a remarkable marathon debut, Kelvin Kiptum won the men’s race in 2:01:53. As he set a new record for the quickest marathon debut, Kiptum finished barely 44 seconds behind Kipchoge’s world record. The Kenyan pulled away with 10 kilometers remaining and finished with a negative split, running faster in the second half than the first, to record the fourth-fastest time in history. Only two-time Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge (on two occasions) and Kenenisa Bekele have run quicker.
Amane Beriso Shankule surprised world 10,000m champion Letesenbet Gidey in the World Athletics platinum label race. Gidey, who established the world half marathon record in Valencia last year, was tasked with breaking Brigid Kosgei’s world record of 2:14:04 in her marathon debut. She and Beriso quickly pulled pulled away from the field. However, it was Beriso who made the acceleration in the final 5 km of the race. Beriso finished third all-time in 2:14:58, trailing only Kosgei and Peres Jepchirchir. Gidey finished her first marathon in the quickest time ever for a woman with a timing of 2:16:49, while Sheila Chepkirui came in third with 2:17:29.
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