John Korir Is Chasing a Rare Repeat at the Valencia Marathon

John Korir goes into the Valencia Marathon on Dec. 6 as the fastest man in the field, now that Yomif Kejelcha has withdrawn with an injury, and with a chance to do something Valencia has not seen in more than two decades. If he wins again, the Kenyan will be the first man to take back-to-back titles there since Samuel Tangus in 2002 and 2003.

Twenty-two different men have won the race since then, and only three in its history have won it twice: Teodoro Pérez in 1981 and 1983, Eduardo Alcaína in 1996 and 1997, and Tangus. All three did it when Valencia was a far slower race. Tangus took his first title in 2:13:05, more than 11 minutes slower than Sisay Lemma’s current course record of 2:01:48.

Lemma came back to defend his title in 2024 as the course record holder, ran with the leaders until the last pacemaker stepped off just past 1:33, and faded to 10th in 2:04:59, according to World Athletics’ report. Sabastian Sawe won that day on his debut.

Four Wins in Five Marathons

Korir has won four of his last five marathons, going back to October 2024:

He fell at the start of the 2025 Boston Marathon and still won, joining his brother Wesley, the 2012 champion, to make them the first brothers to win the race. This April he went back and ran 2:01:52, more than a minute inside Geoffrey Mutai’s old course record. Boston’s point-to-point course does not count for records, so his official best is still the 2:02:24 from Valencia.

A Different Plan This Time

Korir came to Valencia last year off that Chicago DNF and was careful about it. “I will run a tactical race; I will not go out hard in Valencia,” he told The Star that week, and said he had been running about 200K a week. He sat in the pack through halfway in 1:01:47, took over after the pacemakers left at 25K and ran the second half alone in 1:00:37.

He has aimed a good deal higher this year. In September he told The Star that his “prayer is to run sub-two hours” in Valencia and that he was covering 250 to 270K a week, as Marathon Handbook reported. With Kejelcha gone, the next-fastest man on the start list is Alexander Mutiso, whose best is 2:03:11.

Mutiso and Dawit Wolde were second and third behind Lemma in 2023, and Awet Kibrab ran a Norwegian record to finish third behind Korir last year. Leul Gebreselassie, who won in 2018, is in the field too, so a Gebreselassie win would give Valencia its fourth two-time men’s champion.

Korir turns 30 four days before the race, and he signed a deal with COROS that runs through the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics last month. A win in Valencia would be his third marathon title in a row, and breaking Lemma’s course record would earn him an extra €30,000 ($33,600).