Margaret Chelimo leads Kenya to podium sweep in Valencia Half Marathon
By Collins Amanga, October 22, 2023
Kenya dominated the Valencia Half Marathon Trinidad Alfonso Zurich, securing a remarkable 1-3 finish, with Margaret Chelimo claiming victory in the women’s race.
Chelimo clinched the top spot, crossing the finish line with an impressive time of 1:04:46.
Margaret Chelimo compatriots
Cheptai Irine secured the second position, finishing in 1:04:53, closely followed by Chepngetich Janet in third place with a time of 1:05:15.
Chelimo’s remarkable achievements include a personal best of 8:21.53 for the 3000m and 14:23.67 for the 5000m. She won a silver medal at the World Championships for the 5000m in 2019 and claimed a bronze in the 10,000m the following year. Chelimo also added another medal to her collection at the World Road Running Championships in Riga in October.
Margaret Chelimo PB
It’s worth noting that it was in Valencia where Chelimo set her personal best for the 10km distance, clocking an impressive 29:50. Her previous best for the half marathon was 1:05:26.
During the race, Laura Luengo achieved a remarkable feat by setting the second Spanish record of the day. She completed the race in a spectacular 1:09:41. Luengo had expressed confidence in her performance and exceeded expectations by improving the previous record, held by Trihas Gebre since 2008, by 10 seconds.
The second female finisher was Esther Navarrete, who completed the race in 1:09:58, and the third spot went to Marta Galimany with a time of 1:10:45.