The Swede becomes the first European to break 59 minutes for the distance as Jomif Kejelča and Agnes Ngetić took the wins.
Yomif Kejelcha was not to be in the Valencia half marathon on Sunday (October 26), as the Ethiopian’s winning time (58:02) was reduced. Jacob Kiplimo’s world record: 56:42.
In fourth place, however, Sweden’s Andreas Almgren broke Julien Wanders’ European record with 59:13 in 58:41.
In the women’s race, Agnes Ngetich gave Letesenbeth Giday’s world record of 62:52 a scare, but the Kenyan clocked 63:08 – 16 seconds off Giday’s mark and four seconds slower than her own PB when she won in Valencia 12 months ago.
After flying 10km in 29:28, Ngetic couldn’t quite maintain his pace in the final stages as Giday’s world record slipped. However, for Ngetic, it was the 2025 world lead.
For Almgren, it was his third European record of the year, following a 10km record of 26:53 in Valencia, followed by a 5000m record of 12:44.27 on home soil in Stockholm in the summer.
He won bronze in the 10,000m at the World Championships in Tokyo, behind runner-up Kejelchai and winner Jimmy Gresier of France. After that race, he set his sights on this European record in Valencia.
READ MORE. Interview by Andreas Almgren
Sunday’s race, El Medio Maratón Valencia Trinidad Alfonso Zurich, which gives it its full name, is known for producing fast times. Once again, it did not disappoint either.
Behind Kejelcha, Rodrigue Kwizera of Burundi ran 58:39 and Brian Kibor of Kenya ran 58:39 in third ahead of Almgren.
Alfie Manthorpe was the leading Briton in 61:26 to finish 20th on the UK all-time list. Close behind was Charlie Wheeler in 61:28, Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee in 61:30 and then Ben Connor came home in 61:32 and Zach Mohamed in 61:44.
Lily Partridge was the leading British woman in 69:52 just two weeks after running 69:34 in Manchester.
