- Hellen Ekalale won the 2025 Valencia Ibercaja 10K race in a time of 29:30.
- The men’s title went to Swedish runner Andreas Almgren, who set a novel European record.
- Former world record holder Dennis Kimetto finished 14th in the 2025 Dubai Marathon.
Hellen Ekalale entered herself into the history books of Valencia Ibercaja 10K road race in Spain on Sunday.
Ekalale made sure the coveted title remained in Kenya when she led East Africans to a top three finish in the World Athletics Gold label road race. Agnes Ngetich Jebet set the current world record of 28:46 in the same race last year.
She produced a brilliant kick in the final stages of the race and went on to secure the title in a lifetime best of 29:30.
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The athlete, whose career was shaped in Japan, was followed by the Ethiopian duo of Girmawit Gebru (29:34) and the 2024 Valencia Half Marathon runner up Fotyen Tesfay (29:42).
Other Kenyan representatives Christine Chesiro (30:06), Maurine Toroitich (30:28) and Miriam Serem (30:29) settled for sixth, seventh and eighth positions respectively.
The surprise of the day came in the men’s category where Swedish runner Andreas Almgren shocked Kenyans, who were the pre-race favorites to win the event in a European record time of 26:53.
His time was 33 seconds slower than the current world record of 26:24 that was set by Kenya’s Rhonex Kipruto in the same event five years ago.
Almgren was followed by Switzerland’s Dominic Lobalu with Kenya’s Vincent Langat also putting his name on the podium. Lobalu and Langat managed a time of 26:54 and 26:55 in that order.
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Langat’s compatriot Daniel Kinyanjui clocked 27:06 to finish fourth ahead of Kenyan-born Belgium runner Isaac Kimeli (27:10) and Kenya’s Bernard Langat (27:11).
Elsewhere, Ethiopians ran the show in the 2025 Dubai Marathon, clinching top 10 positions in both the men’s and women’s categories.
Debutant Gemechu Bute won the men’s title in a time of 2:04:51 ahead of Tsegu Berehanu (2:05:14) and Tamru Shifera (2:05:28).
Kenya’s main representative in the race Dennis Kimetto, who set the previous world record of 2:02:57 more than 10 years ago in the streets of Berlin, finished in the 14th position.
Kimetto, who is set to celebrate his 41st birthday on January 22, stated after the race that he is aiming to produce better performances this season.
“I am feeling good because I finished the race. It has been long to run a marathon but today I finished. So, I am really happy.
The injury is gone, everything is okay for me. So, this year I will run well. I will go back home, train and then see what will happen next,” he stated shortly after the battle.
Meanwhile, Hirpa Bedatu outpaced Dida Dera with less than 200m remaining to the end of the race to bag the title in 2:18:27.
Dera clocked 2:18:32 ahead of the third place finisher Girma Tigist, who crossed the finishing line in 2:20:47.
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