Sawe wins in Valencia with the best world record of the year

It was after kilometer 30 when Sisay Lemma threw in the towel. Last year’s winner, and great favorite, ran out of strength when entering the decisive stretch and opened the door to the four outsiders who until then had accompanied him in the lead. Of all, Sawe was the most complete, debuting his record in the great endurance test in a big way.

Eleven degrees marked the thermometer at the time when the Monteolivete Bridge was filled with elite runners. The three hares took command with a clear objective: to complete each kilometer in 2:54 to complete the half marathon in just over an hour. That pace left the favorites alone from the beginning. Sisay Lemma was there, and also Kenenisa Bekele. Along with them, Deresa Geleta, winner this year in another long-standing marathon, that of Seville, Birhanu Legesa, Guye Adola, Andamlak Belihu, Daniel Mateiko and the debutant Sawe. In total, eight runners crossed kilometer 5 in 14:32 and kilometer 10 in 29:04, similar to last year’s passing times.

The leading female group was smaller, which by kilometer 5 was only two units. The blame was on the pace set by the Ethiopian Megertu Alemu, the top favorite, who could only be followed by the Ugandan Stella Chesang. The world record, that stratospheric 2h09:56 by Ruth Chepngetich, is unattainable. The challenge here was to lower the best time of the event, the 2h14:58 achieved in 2023 by Amane Beriso.

When passing through the half marathon (1h01:18), the possibility of breaking the men’s record for the event seemed difficult. It was at that moment when Bekele, 42 years old, athletics legend, fell away from the main group, starting a slow bleeding that little by little reduced the group of candidates. Shortly after, Belihu left Belihu and Guye Adola lost. But the bell was yet to come. After an hour and a half of racing, it was Lemma who said enough, just when the last of the hares moved to the side. Mateiko took the opportunity to accelerate and get rid of Geleta, Sawe and Legesa. It was not the final arson. Sawe and Geleta managed to hold on about forty meters behind the leader, and thus the decisive stretch of the race was reached.

Mateiko was unable to open a gap, and ended up succumbing to the push of Sawe, who chased him at kilometer 35 and did not stop. Geleta, a privileged spectator between the duel between the two Kenyans, did not want to wear himself out chasing the new leader, which allowed him to cross the finish line in 2:02:42, his personal best.

In the women’s category, Alemu paid for being alone after the half marathon. For 30 kilometers he was in a position to improve last year’s mark, but his stride plummeted from there.

As for the Spanish, the men’s event was a one-on-one between Ibrahim Chakir and Carlos Mayo until kilometer 30, when the former distanced himself due to the Aragonese’s decline. There was also the option of a record until after kilometer 30, but once again the toughness of the test took its toll on the candidates. It was enough for Chakir to make a personal record. Mayo, who was making his debut, ended up being surpassed in the national classification by Dani Mateo, Andreu Blanes and Jorge Blanco, to finish in 2h11:25.

Maayouf, for his part, was the one who came closest to the feat. He held on to improve his national record practically until the last meters. Already in the final stretch, on the blue tapestry of the City of Arts and Sciences, he realized that he was going to have a few seconds to spare, and he regretted it by repeatedly hitting his head.