Rodrigue Kwizera Leads the Elite Field for the Valencia Half Marathon

The Burundian-born runner, now racing for Spain, is the fastest man entered in the Oct. 25 race, with a best of 58:16. The European record he is targeting was lowered to 58:06 only nine days ago.

Published: Sep 29, 2026 3:00 pm

Jessy Carveth

Jessy Carveth

Jessy is our Senior News Editor, pro cyclist and former track and field athlete with a Bachelors degree in Kinesiology.

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Rodrigue Kwizera will start the Valencia Half Marathon on Oct. 25 as the fastest man in the field, and with a real chance of becoming the first Spaniard to win the race since it moved to the full half-marathon distance in 2006. Organizers named the elite fields on Tuesday, and his 58:16 from the Prague Half Marathon in March puts him 17 seconds clear of anyone else on the start list.

Kwizera was second in Valencia a year ago, running 58:39 behind Yomif Kejelcha and finishing just ahead of Andreas Almgren, whose 58:41 that morning made him the first European to break 59 minutes. Spain granted Kwizera citizenship in May, nearly three years after his last race for Burundi at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest. A few weeks later he ran 26:01 over 10K in Madrid, the fastest time ever recorded for the distance, although the downhill course means it can never count as a record.

Rodrigue Kwizera Leads the Elite Field for the Valencia Half Marathon 1

The European Record Target Moved in Copenhagen

Organizers say Kwizera is going after the European record, and the man he beat last October has made that considerably harder. Almgren won the world half-marathon title in Copenhagen on Sept. 20 in 58:06, taking 35 seconds off his own mark, so Kwizera would now need to run 11 seconds faster than he ever has. The Spanish record is a more realistic target on current form: Carlos Mayo’s 59:39, set on this course in 2023.

Tadese Worku, fourth in Copenhagen in a personal best of 58:35, is one of two men from that race heading to Valencia, along with Alex Matata, who was eighth. Jemal Yimer (58:33) is the second-fastest entrant on paper, with Kenya’s Owen Korir (58:58), Daniel Ebenyo (59:04) and Andrea Kiptoo (59:11) behind him, and Thierry Ndikumwenayo (59:42) gives Spain a second contender. Maxime Chaumeton, who has run 26:55 for 10K, and Victor Kipruto (27:10) are making their debuts at the distance, while brothers Said and Adel Mechaal complete the Spanish group.

Kejelcha, who set the course record of 57:30 in 2024 before beating Kwizera to the title last year, will be elsewhere. He has since run 56:51 in Buenos Aires and is building toward the Valencia Marathon on Dec. 6, his first marathon since a 1:59:41 debut in London in April.

Yalemzerf Yehualaw Returns in the Women’s Race

Yalemzerf Yehualaw has the quickest best in the women’s field, 1:03:51, run in Valencia in 2021, and organizers say this will be her first race since having a baby. The 2022 London Marathon champion faces two Ethiopians in form on the roads: Tsigie Gebreselama (1:04:21), who has won the Lisbon Half Marathon in each of the past two years, and Ftaw Zerai (1:05:12), this year’s Paris Half Marathon winner.

Veronica Loleo, third in Valencia last year, arrives with a silver medal from the half in Copenhagen, where she ran 1:06:05 and finished 50 seconds behind Agnes Ngetich’s women-only world record. Daisilah Jerono (1:05:21) was fourth there, Zerai was eighth, and Gebreselama was dropped during the race. Caroline Gitonga, who won silver in the 5K at the same championships, Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen (1:05:41) and Mizan Alem (1:05:38) are also entered. Ngetich, last year’s winner in 1:03:08, is not. The course record remains Letesenbet Gidey’s 1:02:52 from 2021, which is still the world record.

“After the World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen, Valencia once again brings together the world’s fastest athletes in search of rematches and new personal bests, especially among the women,” said Marc Roig, who recruits the race’s international elite.

Spain’s best hope of a women’s record is Carla Gallardo, who took the national mark down to 1:08:30 at the Berlin Half Marathon in March and also holds the Spanish 10K record of 31:11. Laura Luengo (1:08:50) and Irene Sánchez-Escribano (1:09:10), who made her name in the steeplechase, start alongside her.

“We are delighted to have this lineup of Spanish athletes, from whom we expect great times, and where we are in a position to challenge for both Spanish records,” said José Antonio Redolat, who selects the Spanish elite for the race.