Some races just have that feeling. Castellón on Sunday morning was one of them.
At the Facsa Castellón 10K in Spain, two European records fell — one men’s, one women’s — on the same course, in the same hour. France’s Yann Schrub ran 26:43. Britain’s Megan Keith ran 30:07. Both times were European records. Neither athlete was supposed to be the headline coming in.
That tells you something about how this race went.
The Men’s Race: Schrub Takes What Almgren Built
The men’s race had a tidy narrative ahead of time. Sweden’s Andreas Almgren had set the European record — 26:45 — in Valencia just weeks ago. Castellón, with its flat course and fast field, was set up for him to go lower.
He matched his record exactly. It just wasn’t enough.
Yann Schrub finished two seconds ahead of him and walked away with the European record instead. “I hoped the French record was possible but not the European record,” Schrub said afterward. “It’s a surprise for me.”
That’s about as understated as it gets for a man who just put himself sixth on the world all-time list.
Both Schrub and Almgren, though, were beaten on the day by someone who wasn’t really supposed to be the story either. Harbert Kibet, a 20-year-old Ugandan, ran 26:39 to win the race on his debut at the distance. His time makes him the fifth-fastest 10km runner in history — one second behind his compatriot Joshua Cheptegei, who holds the world 5,000m and 10,000m records. Not a bad first go at the distance.
Four men finished under 27 minutes in total. If you’ve ever wondered why running world records keep falling, this race is a pretty good exhibit.
For Schrub, 29, this was the second time he’d rewritten the record books in February alone. Earlier this month he ran 7:29.38 for 3,000 metres indoors, becoming only the fourth European ever to break the 7:30 barrier, clearing out world 10,000m champion Jimmy Gressier’s French record along the way.
He now heads into the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham this August having quietly put together one of the best winters on the continent.
The Women’s Race: Keith Beats the Record — and the Record Holder
The women’s European 10km record has had a busy few weeks. It changed hands on January 4, then again in late January, and now again on Sunday. Three different athletes, three different countries, seven weeks. Nobody’s holding onto this thing for long.
Megan Keith is the latest to own it. The 23-year-old Scot ran 30:07 in Castellón — one second quicker than the mark set by her British teammate Eilish McColgan in Valencia last month. Keith didn’t just break the record, she beat McColgan in the race too, finishing four places ahead of her.
McColgan crossed in 30:35, which she’ll take given she’s two months out from the London Marathon on April 26. Still, there’s something poetic about breaking a teammate’s record and then watching that teammate finish behind you.
The backdrop to Keith’s run matters. A year ago she described herself as being at “ground zero” after an injury layoff following the 2024 Paris Olympics. If you’ve ever had to rebuild your training after time off, you’ll know how hard that road back can be.
The rebuild was patient — 10th in the 10,000m at the World Championships in Tokyo, runner-up at the European Cross Country Championships in Portugal in December. She came 25th at the World Cross Country Championships in January after going off hard and struggling in the Florida heat. Sunday felt like the other side of all that.
Kenya’s Caroline Gitonga won the race outright in 29:34, improving her personal best by over a minute and moving joint ninth on the women’s world all-time list. Keith finished fourth — fast enough for a European record, but Gitonga and the Kenyans were in a different race altogether.
The current European 10km all-time list makes for interesting reading:
- 30:07 — Megan Keith (GBR), 2026
- 30:08 — Eilish McColgan (GBR), 2026
- 30:10 — Jana Van Lent (BEL), 2026
- 30:21 — Paula Radcliffe (GBR), 2003
Three of the top four marks were set in the last seven weeks. The fourth is Paula Radcliffe, from 2003, which should tell you how rare this kind of sustained record-breaking usually is.
Jana Van Lent, the Belgian who started this whole streak with a surprise 30:10 in Nice on January 4, had a rough day in Castellón — she was caught in a heavy fall at the start line and never recovered. “I felt so strong but when this happens, the race is over,” she wrote on Instagram. Given that she’s already the third-fastest European woman ever at the distance, she won’t be far away for long.
One small print item worth flagging: Lonah Chemtai Salpeter ran 30:05 in Tilburg back in 2019, which is technically the fastest time ever set by a European-eligible athlete. It was never ratified as a European record. So Keith’s 30:07 is the official record, but if you want to be pedantic about it, the conversation has a footnote.
What Comes Next
Keith heads to New York on March 15 for her half marathon debut before switching to the track for the summer. She’ll get to pull on a Scottish vest at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow — which doesn’t happen often given she’s usually competing for Britain — and then the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham from August 10–16. A big few months.
McColgan’s focus is London. After a 30:08 in Valencia and a solid run in Castellón, she’s in the right shape at the right time of year.
Schrub will also be in Birmingham, going in as European record holder, with a world ranking that would have seemed unlikely even six months ago.
And somewhere, Harbert Kibet is presumably figuring out what to do for his second 10km. Whatever he decides, the field should probably be paying attention.
Full Results
Women
- Caroline Gitonga (KEN) 29:34
- Nelvin Jepkemboi (KEN) 29:45
- Chaltu Dida (ETH) 29:50
- Megan Keith (GBR) 30:07
- Purity Gitonga (KEN) 30:25
- Eilish McColgan (GBR) 30:35
Men
- Harbert Kibet (UGA) 26:39
- Yann Schrub (FRA) 26:43
- Andreas Almgren (SWE) 26:45
- Silas Senchura (KEN) 26:58
- Biniyam Melak (ETH) 27:10
- Bereket Nega (ETH) 27:39
