The Valencia Half Marathon underlined its reputation as being a record-setting course despite the wet conditions on Sunday (27) morning.
Behind Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha, who eclipsed the world record by one second with 57:30, Spain’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo was eighth in 59:42 and just missed Carlos Mayo’s national record by three seconds.
France’s Etienne Daguinos also broke new ground by breaking the one-hour barrier for the first time with 59:46.
Ndikumwenayo and Daguinos move to ninth and tenth respectively on the European all-time half marathon list which is still headed by Julien Wanders’ time of 59:13 from 2019.
In the women’s race, Germany’s 2022 European 5000m champion Konstanze Klosterhalfen returned from a virus which forced her to miss the main part of the track season with a creditable ninth-place finish in 67:07.
One place behind, her German teammate Eva Dieterich clocked 68:26 on her half marathon debut while Czechia’s Moira Stewartova took a massive chunk off the national record in 11th, improving the mark to 68:44 to become the first Czech to break the 70 minute-barrier.
And while she is not yet eligible to compete for Spain internationally, Kaoutar Boulaid took ownership of the Spanish record with 68:47 while Laura Luengo and 3000m steeplechase specialist Irene Sanchez-Escribano were also under the previous mark with 68:50 and 69:10 respectively.
And slightly further down the field, Great Britain’s 19-year-old Natasha Phillips ran a lifetime best of 70:18. Her time was not just a British U20 best but also the fastest ever time recorded by a European U20 at the half marathon distance by over a minute.
With a 2005 date-of-birth, Phillips is eligible to contest the U20 race at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, Türkiye on 8 December.
Cross country season gathers pace with Antalya approaching
At the Swedish Cross Country Championships in Jonkoping, Sarah Lahti returned from a hamstring injury to win the short course 4km in 13:11.
European 3000m steeplechase finalist Emilia Lillemo won the senior 10km in 35:57, beating out Carolina Wikström (36:29) and 2019 European cross country bronze medallist Samrawit Mengsteab (37:06).
Leo Magnusson won the short course title in 11:31 with 35-year-old Mohammedreza Abootorbi winning the 10km in 31:11 by one second from Awet Mengsteab.
At the Baltic Cross Country Team Championships, Estonia won the overall title ahead of Latvia and hosts Lithuania. Leonid Latsepov won the senior men’s 8km for Estonia in 25:09 with Lithuania’s Lina Kiriliuk winning the senior women’s 6km in 21:09.
At the Ukrainian Cross Country Championships in Uzhgorod, Viktoriya Kalyuzhna and Roman Rostykus won the 7.5km titles in 25:48 and 22:47 respectively.
Only 18, Saima Muric won the senior cross country title at the Serbian Cross Country Championships in Zajecar in 27:25. Nikolai Gajic won the 10km in 30:36.
Steven Mills for European Athletics