The 2025 Valencia Marathon, scheduled for December 7, is already shaping up as one of the fastest races in history and one of the most competitive.
Organizers have unveiled their first wave of elite athletes, and the list is stacked from top to bottom with Olympic champions, course record holders, and a few Americans chasing lifetime breakthroughs.
Valencia has earned its reputation as the sport’s go-to venue for personal bests and record attempts.
The course is famously flat and fast, the December weather reliably cool, and the pace groups deep enough to carry dozens of runners to career days.
Last year, Kenya’s Sebastian Sawe stormed to victory in 2:02:05, then the fifth-fastest marathon ever, and that set the tone for what has become the world’s unofficial season-ending time trial.
The Men’s Race: Lemma Returns, Depth Everywhere
Headlining the men’s field is Sisay Lemma, who set the Valencia course record in 2023 with his 2:01:48 win, still the fourth-fastest marathon in history behind Kelvin Kiptum, Eliud Kipchoge, and Amos Kipruto. Lemma, who also placed third at the 2024 London Marathon, has already proven he can handle the city’s rhythm of precision pacing and long, unbroken stretches of tempo running.
He’ll be joined by a loaded international field that includes:
- Hailemariam Kiros of Ethiopia (2:04:35)
- Hillary Kipkoech of Kenya (2:04:45)
- Amanal Petros of Germany (2:04:58), the European record holder
- Samuel Fitwi of Germany (2:04:56)
- Yohei Ikeda of Japan (2:05:12)
- Edward Cheserek of Kenya (2:05:24), continuing his rise from NCAA legend to marathon contender
Two Kenyan debutants, Vinicent Nyageo and Patrick Mosin, are also expected to be in the mix, both highly regarded by coaches in East Africa’s training circuits.
This is the kind of field where even 2:05 doesn’t guarantee a top-ten finish. With multiple pacers set to target 60:00 to 60:10 through halfway, the men’s race could once again flirt with the two-hour barrier or at the very least produce one of the fastest mass finishes ever seen.
The Women’s Race: Beriso, Jepchirchir, Jepkosgei Lead Stacked Field
If anything, the women’s race might be even stronger. Amane Beriso returns to Valencia, the site of her 2:14:58 performance in 2022, a run that still ranks third all-time behind Tigst Assefa and Brigid Kosgei. She’ll face Peres Jepchirchir, the reigning Olympic champion, and Joyciline Jepkosgei, a former London and New York City Marathon winner with a 2:16:24 best.
That top trio alone accounts for three of the ten fastest women in history. But they won’t be alone at the front:
- Fikirte Wereta (2:21:32)
- Charlotte Purdue (2:22:17)
- Glenrose Xaba (2:22:22)
- Jessica Stenson (2:22:56)
- Isobel Batt-Doyle (2:22:59)
- Genevieve Gregson (2:23:08)
- Rose Harvey (2:23:21)
- Fabienne Schlumpf (2:24:30)
- Gesa Krause, the two-time world steeplechase medalist, making her marathon debut
It’s an almost absurdly deep field, the kind of lineup where half the top-20 women in the world will be on the same start line.
If conditions mirror Valencia’s typical early-December range, mid-50s Fahrenheit with light winds and low humidity, multiple athletes could dip under 2:18 and the course record might once again be under threat.
The American Storylines
Four top Americans have also been announced, all of them chasing very different goals but united by one thing: speed.
Clayton Young has had a breakout year in 2025, clocking 2:07:04 for seventh at the Boston Marathon and following it with a gritty ninth-place finish at the World Championships in Tokyo, where he battled through brutal heat and humidity to run 2:10:43. Valencia will mark his third marathon of the year, a rare but calculated choice for a man in the form of his life.
Emma Bates has been open about her belief that she can run in the 2:18 range, and Valencia might finally be the setting for it. Her best of 2:22:10 came in Boston 2023, but she’s had a consistent build-up this season and is healthy heading into her next block.
Keira D’Amato, the former American record holder with a 2:19:12 best, continues her return from a frustrating, injury-interrupted 2024. Her sharp 1:09:07 half marathon in Copenhagen last month, along with her U.S. Masters 10,000-meter record of 32:19.40, suggest she’s trending in the right direction.
Lindsay Flanagan, meanwhile, will line up after a careful recovery from a hamstring tear. She last raced a full marathon in Chicago 2024, where she ran a personal best 2:23:31. Valencia offers her a clean slate and a chance to test herself against the deepest women’s field of the year.
Together, Bates, D’Amato, and Flanagan could form one of the most competitive American contingents ever entered in Valencia, a trio with realistic shots at the U.S. all-time list if everything clicks.
Why Valencia Matters
Once a regional race known mainly to Spanish amateurs, the Valencia Marathon has transformed into one of the world’s premier stages for fast times. Its mix of elite pacing, cool weather, and a perfectly engineered course has turned it into the December destination for record chasers.
The course records, 2:01:48 for men and 2:14:58 for women, both set in the past three years, rank among the top four globally, and with so many sub-2:05 and sub-2:18 athletes confirmed, 2025 could easily rewrite the record books again.
For the world’s best, and for the Americans chasing breakthrough times, Valencia has become more than just a race. It’s a benchmark.
