The Olympic triathlon champion now holds Mo Farah’s British record after an impressive run in Spain on Sunday, with Phil Sesemann, Jonny Mellor and Natasha Wilson also shining.
Alex Yee is the reigning Olympic triathlon champion, but he was clearly born to run. Competing in just his second marathon in Valencia on Sunday (December 7), he clocked 2:06:38 to become the UK’s No. 2 all-time runner. Only Mo Farah, 2:05:11 from Chicago in 2018, has gone faster.
When Farah was at her peak, Yi appeared on her front cover AW: as English Schools Cross Country Champion. Since then, he’s appeared on our cover several times, although his main focus in recent years has been triathlon.
Now, after this scintillating performance on the Spanish streets of Valencia, will he be tempted to have a crack at Farah’s mark in London? After all, Ii’s marathon debut came this year in London with a time of 2:11:08.
Against Valencia, Yi ran a slightly disappointing 61:29 half-marathon in the same Spanish city in late October. But on Sunday, he passed the halfway point in 63:30 before running the second half in 63:08.
In the British capital next spring, he could face Olympic fourth-placed Emile Cares, whose best of 2:06:46 has now dropped to No. 3 in the UK rankings. It’s not like Keires will begrudge Yee, as they have been training together with Phil Sesemann in recent weeks, and Keires helped his teammates cover around 35km on Sunday.
The ever-improving Sesemann also excelled in Valencia as he clocked 2:07:11 to shave six seconds off the lifetime best he ran in Amsterdam in late October. It also means the Leeds runner has broken Steve Jones’ long-standing British record of 2:07:13 from 1985.
Also thriving in the fast conditions, Jonny Mellor improved his best time from 2:09:06 to 2:08:45 just three weeks before his 39th birthday. Mellor, who has a history of bad luck when it comes to major championship selection, is timely given the Commonwealth Games and European Championships on home soil in 2026.
That was the standard overall in Valencia, but Yee finished seventh, Sesemann 13th and Mellor 22nd. Up front, the overall men’s win went to John Korir as the Kenyan clocked 2:02:24 to add to his Boston Marathon win from earlier this year.
Runner-up Amanal Petros set a German record of 2:04:03. In third, Avet Kibrab set a Norwegian record of 2:04:24 on his marathon debut, while Suguru Osako set a Japanese record of 2:04:55 in fourth place.
Fast times are almost guaranteed in Valencia and on a day of PBs and National Records, Natasha Wilson (née Cockram) set a Welsh record of 2:24:21 to take almost two minutes off her personal best and move up to 8th in the UK all-time rankings.
First female home was Joycelyn Jepkosgei in 2:14:00 after pulling away in the final kilometers from Kenya’s Perez Jepchirchir in second place in 2:14:43.
Further British performances included Lily Partridge in 2:27:54, Verity Hopkins in 2:31:21 and Jenny Nesbitt in 2:32:48, while Alice Braham, mother of four and former GB junior internationalat 2:37:05 49 years old.
Tewelde Menges from Medway & Maidstone ran a four minute PB of 2:10:00, Ben Connor a PB of 2:10:49 and Jack Rowe a PB of 2:12:33.
Full results here
