Ethiopia’s Haile Lemi bettered the elite men’s course record by more than 30 seconds, comfortably finishing the race in 2:07:32 to better the record of 2:08:09 set in 2020 by Derara Hurisa while Anchalem Haymanot finished the race in 2:24:15 to better Kenyan Valentine Kipketer’s record of 2:24:33 set in 2013.
Haile and Anchalem took home prize money of $45,000 as well as a course record bonus of $15,000 each. Kenyan Philimon Rono finished behind Haile with a timing of 2:08:44, followed by Hailu Zewdu, who clocked 2:10:23.
Rahma Tusa and Letebrhan Haylay completed an Ethiopian sweep in the women’s event with timings of 2:24:22 and 2:24:52 respectively.
It was a dream debut for Anchalem in the women’s elite race who kept pleading with her pacer to push harder throughout the race. In the women’s race, there were as many as five runners in the lead pack at the midway stage before 2019 champion Worknesh Alemu took the sole lead. She however couldn’t match the drive of Anchalem and Tusa who kept pushing each other till the end.
“This was my first marathon and I won gold. I was nervous regarding the weather and the conditions. Before the start, I didn’t tell myself that I have any hope of winning as the women’s field was very strong but I just stuck to the basics. My whole body was feeling good in the end so I went for the win,” she said.

Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw clocked 29:19 at the Valencia 10K Ibercaja to come within five seconds of her own world record, while Kenya’s Weldon Kipkirui Langat won in 26:55 in a thrilling finish against compatriot Charles Langat at the World Athletics Label road race in the Spanish city.
Paced by her compatriots Genetu Molalign, Yalemzerf increased her pace during the second half, covering most kilometers in 2:53-2:54 and reaching 8km in 23:29. After another swift 2:53 kilometer, the Ethiopian was unable to maintain that same cadence over the final kilometer but still held on to finish in 29:19, the second-fastest 10km performance in history.
The 23-year-old Yalemzerf commented she was a bit disappointed for not having broken the world record but satisfied with her brave effort.
The men’s race kicked off at a relatively brisk pace, the opening kilometers covered in 2:38 and 2:39. The pacemaker dropped out just before the 3km (7:57) and the pace decreased slightly, so Lagat and Kenya’s world 5000m silver medalist Jacob Krop moved to the front in a bid to keep the pace alive.
By halfway (13:30), nine men were still in contention for victory.
Despite the annoying headwind over the following kilometers, Krop and Langat managed to maintain a swift cadence in the 2:43/2:45 kilometer range, with Charles Langat always tucked behind them.
Charles Langat set a massive lifetime best of 26:57 while Daniel Kosen took third in 27:01, an 18-second improvement on his career best.
Langat missed out on making the Kenyan team for the World Cross Country Championships, so his next outing will be at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon on 18 February. He’ll then turn his attention to making the Kenyan 10,000m team for the World Championships in Budapest.