Agnes Ngetich Will Make Her Marathon Debut in Valencia

Agnes Ngetich will run her first marathon in Valencia on Dec. 6. The 25-year-old Kenyan, who holds the 10K world record and won the world half-marathon title in September, was confirmed for the race by its organizers on Thursday, and she will line up against Fotyen Tesfay, whose 2:10:51 in Barcelona in March is the fastest debut any woman has run.

She ran 28:46 in Valencia in January 2024 to become the first woman under 29 minutes for 10K, then came back that October for her first half-marathon and won it in 1:03:04, the second-fastest time in history. A year later she won again in 1:03:08, only 16 seconds outside Letesenbet Gidey’s world record of 1:02:52, and told World Athletics afterward, “I know I have the world record in my legs and my splits were inside that pace until 15km.” In announcing her entry, the organizers wrote that she now “dreams of doing it again over a new distance.”

Two World Titles in 2026

Ngetich won the world cross-country title in Tallahassee in January by 42 seconds, ran 28:58 for 10K in Lille in April, and won the New York Mini 10K in June in 30:07. In Copenhagen on Sept. 20 she went to the front inside the first kilometer and ran the rest of the race alone, passing 10K in 30:39 and winning the world half-marathon title by 50 seconds in 1:05:15, a second under the women-only world record Peres Jepchirchir had held since 2020.

Her most recent race was the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon on Oct. 18, which she won in a course record of 1:04:23, more than four minutes clear of second place. The move up comes two months after she said in Copenhagen that the track still held the one thing she wanted most. “It is my dream to win a gold medal on the track,” she said. “It is the only one I am missing.”

Valencia Pays €1 Million for a Women’s World Record

The race regulations put €1 million ($1.12 million) on a women’s world record, set at Ruth Chepngetich’s 2:09:56, the same sum the men’s race carries for beating Sabastian Sawe’s 1:59:30, a bonus Valencia first put up last year. A course record is worth €30,000 ($33,600), and the mark to beat is the 2:14:00 Joyciline Jepkosgei ran to win the race last December. Jepkosgei is back to defend her title in a lineup World Athletics published on Friday.

With Yomif Kejelcha withdrawing injured on Friday, the men’s race no longer has anyone who has broken two hours, and much of the attention on Dec. 6 now shifts to the women. Tesfay comes in closest to the record: her Barcelona run was an Ethiopian record and the second-fastest marathon ever, just 55 seconds off 2:09:56, and she has since won the Buenos Aires Half Marathon in 1:03:57 as part of her buildup. “In the next marathon I would like to try for the world record,” she said after Barcelona, and Valencia will be her first since.