John Korir Says He Is Targeting a Sub-Two-Hour Marathon in Valencia

John Korir says he intends to attack the two-hour barrier at the Valencia Marathon on December 6, a time 2:24 quicker than the fastest marathon World Athletics recognizes for him.

Korir has been the defending champion since last December, when he won in Valencia in 2:02:24, and the shape of this year’s men’s race has been clear since the summer, when organizers confirmed that Yomif Kejelcha would join the field. What is new is how Korir is talking about it. “Any time I get in Valencia I will be happy with, but my prayer is to run sub-two hours,” he told Teddy Mulei of Kenya’s The Star in an exclusive interview published Tuesday.

That 2:02:24 is still his official personal best. He has run quicker, 2:01:52 to win a second straight Boston Marathon in April in a course record, but Boston runs point to point and World Athletics does not count times there for records or personal bests. So his target sits 1:52 beyond the fastest he has ever run and 2:24 beyond the fastest that counts.

Valencia has never produced anything close, either. Sisay Lemma’s 2:01:48, set in 2023, is still the course record, so a sub-two-hour run there would lower it by nearly two minutes.

The barrier has fallen only twice in a record-eligible race, and both came on the same April morning in London. Sabastian Sawe won in 1:59:30 for the world record, Kejelcha ran 1:59:41 behind him on his marathon debut, and Jacob Kiplimo took third in 2:00:28. LetsRun.com logged 54 F at the gun rising to 61 F by the finish, with a light wind out of the east on a course whose finish sits several miles west of its start. All but one of the top five ran in the adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3, which LetsRun put at 97 grams in a size 9.

That world record changed what Valencia’s prize money is actually for. The race carries a standing offer of €1 million for a world record on its course, and the regulations for this year’s edition name the mark: 1:59:30 for the men. A 1:59:59 in December would be the third-fastest record-eligible marathon ever run, and it would still not claim the prize.

The one man in the field who has already gone under two hours is Kejelcha, and he has only got quicker since London. He regained the half-marathon world record in Buenos Aires in August with 56:51, according to World Athletics, although LetsRun has questioned whether the mark will survive ratification, and Kiplimo’s unratified 56:42 from Barcelona last year remains the fastest half anyone has run. He knows the city, too: his 57:30 over the half in Valencia in October 2024 was a world record at the time.

Behind them Valencia has its usual depth. Awet Kibrab, third behind Korir last year in a Norwegian record, returns with 2:04:24, alongside Alexander Mutiso at 2:03:11, Dawit Wolde at 2:03:48, Nibret Melak at 2:04:00 and Leul Gebreselassie at 2:04:02. Counting Korir and Kejelcha, that is seven men inside 2:04:30 on a field sheet organizers say is not finished.

“This year, both the men’s and women’s winners from 2025 are returning, although with the confirmations of Yomif and Fotyen, defending the title will be very difficult,” said Marc Roig, the race’s international elite athletes coordinator. “Once again, victory in Valencia is unpredictable. Just the way we like it.”

Korir has put a number on a season before. “My target for the rest of the year is to run a sub-2:01 marathon,” he told the same reporter at the same paper in May 2025, weeks after his first Boston win. He ran 2:02:24 in Valencia that December, and he has still never broken 2:01.

The build-up, he says, is going to plan. He told The Star he is covering 250 to 270K a week, roughly 155 to 168 miles, and working on speed and endurance together.

What he would not do is commit to the attempt. “For now I cannot talk about what I will be going for in Valencia, but I am praying to God for good health and to be injury-free,” he said.