Joyciline Jepkosgei delivered one of the best races of her career in Valencia on Sunday, winning the 2025 edition of the marathon in 2:14:00, setting a new course record by nearly one minute and smashing her personal best by almost two and a half minutes.
She held off former Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir, who finished in 2:14:43, to cap one of the strongest head-to-head battles the race has seen.
The early stages stayed unusually crowded. A large women’s pack remained intact through 10K, with Amane Beriso, Fikirte Wereta, Charlotte Purdue, Glenrose Xaba, Jessica Stenson, Keira D’Amato, Isobel Batt-Doyle, and Alisa Vainio all present. The separation didn’t come until later, when Jepchirchir and Jepkosgei pushed forward together and the rest of the field fell away.
By 25K, the two Kenyans were alone at the front, and well ahead of course-record pace. Both looked steady through the middle of the race, and the possibility of a sub-2:15 result stayed alive well past halfway.
The decisive moment came much closer to the end of the race after Jepchirchir threw in a few (unsuccessful) surges.
Jepkosgei began opening a small but consistent gap. It wasn’t a dramatic surge, just a measured increase that Jepchirchir couldn’t fully match. From that point onward, the lead grew slowly but reliably, and Jepkosgei handled the final kilometers with complete control.
Behind the front two, Belgium’s Chloé Herbiet produced the breakthrough run of the morning, finishing third in 2:20:38. Finland’s Alisa Vainio followed in 2:20:48, and Australia’s Jessica Stenson rounded out the top five in 2:21:24, closing a deep set of results behind the leaders.
For Jepkosgei, this win marks one of the sharpest performances of her late-career resurgence, and it comes in a race known for rewarding athletes who commit early. Jepchirchir, meanwhile, leaves with the second-fastest marathon of her life, a strong end to a year that already included another Olympic title.
