In the last competitive marathon of his career, Switzerland’s 2016 European half marathon champion Tadesse Abraham ran the fastest time of his career in the Valencia Marathon to win the continental plaudits on Sunday (1).
Now 42, Abraham finished an excellent fifth in a Swiss record of 2:04:40 to move to fourth on the European all-time lists which were thoroughly rewritten on Sunday morning.
Just behind Abraham, Israel’s Maru Teferi regained his national record with 2:04:44 in seventh to move to fifth on the European all-time list, only six weeks after finishing third in the Amsterdam Marathon.
In yet another incredibly deep race in Valencia, Germany’s Samuel Fitwi was rewarded with a national record in ninth with 2:04.56 and yet another Italian record fell with Yohanes Chiappinelli finishing 13th in 2:05:26.
Just behind Chiappinelli, reigning European marathon champion Richard Ringer from Germany set a lifetime best of 2:05:46 in 14th.
There was Spanish success in the women’s race with Majida Maayouf and Laura Luengo finishing fifth and seventh in 2:21:43 and 2:22:31 respectively.
In ninth, Moira Stewartova reduced her Czech record with 2:23:44 in ninth while five-time Olympian Fionnuala McCormack from Ireland was rewarded with a lifetime best of 2:23:46 to finish 11th.
Nora Szabo finished 15th in a Hungarian record of 2:25:52.