After winning the Valencia Half Marathon, Kenya’s Kibiwott Kandie is aiming for the title in the full marathon in the same Spanish city in December.

While running against a field of strong rivals, Kandie emerged the winner on Sunday, October 22, when he ran the fourth-fastest time in history. The race saw four athletes break 58 minutes, led by Kandie’s 57:40.

He was making his first appearance over the distance this year and achieved his third win in Valencia to deny some top-class competition that included Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha, who was second in a national record of 57:41.

Kandie’s goal

Now, after the half-marathon triumph, Kandie has revealed his next desire.

“Honestly, I was not aiming for the world record, but I felt strong throughout and pushed hard for most of the race. I promise to return to Valencia and regain the world record anyway. I’ll next focus on my build-up for the Valencia Marathon on December 3,” Kandie told World Athletics.

Kandie’s Valencia performance

During the half-marathon race, the pacemakers went out at a steady 2:45/km pace to target a finish time of around 58 minutes. However, just before the 5km checkpoint, Kandie overtook the pacemakers after unleashing a devastating change of speed, which saw him cover that kilometre in a frantic 2:39 to reach 5km in 13:43, according to World Athletics.

The former world champion pushed hard to cover the next 3km split in a blistering 8:08, always with the threatening Ethiopian trio giving him no space to breathe. They went through the 10km mark in 27:15, a time that predicted a 57:29 finish to indicate that the world record of 57:31 set by Jacob Kiplimo in Lisbon in 2021 was feasible. Kandie was just one second slower than Kiplimo’s mark when he broke the world record to win in Valencia in 2020.

The lead quartet cruised through the 15km point in 41:01 following a slower three-kilometre split of 8:24 to forecast a 57:39 final time, but the possibility of a world record and a thrilling finish was still there as four top athletes remained in contention.

Kandie finally crossed the finish line in 57:40, the second-fastest time of his career behind his former world record of 57:32. He now has two of the four fastest half-marathon times in history, and his performance is a world lead of almost one minute.