Kenyan Sawe and Ethiopian Alemu at the Valencia marathon

Spain, Dec 1 (PL) Kenyan Sebastian Sawe and Ethiopian Megertu Alemu won today the Valencia marathon in their respective sexes.

Sawe, world half-marathon champion in 2023, finished his first official long-distance race in two hours, two minutes, and five seconds, the best time of the year and fifth in history.

With that amazing performance, he made himself unreachable from the rest of the long-distance runners and completed the podium with Ethiopian Deresa Geleta (2 h 02:38) and the also Kenyan Daniel Mateiko (2 h 04:24).

Alemu won the women's race in two hours, 16 minutes, and 49 seconds, 15 seconds ahead of her personal best.

The Ethiopian was the great favorite in the race. She dominated ahead of Uganda's Stella Chesang (2 h 18:26) and Ethiopia's Tiruye Mesfin (2 h 18:35).