- The race will be held this Sunday, January 15 at 9:30 am, starting at Paseo de la Alameda.

- World's fastest 10K will fight for women's world record with Yalemzerf Yehualaw

- The 10Kids and the 5K Valencia Vamos, with 1,500 participants and 57% women, will round off the day's events

València, 13-01-2023.- The 10K Valencia Ibercaja will open again the year of races in the city of running this Sunday, January 15. In its 15th edition, the race, which recovers the numbers before the pandemic, already has 12 004 registered runners who will again enjoy the fastest 10K in the world to the rhythm, as is now tradition, of Chimo Bayo's Hu-Ha!

This information has been advanced in the presentation ceremony, which took place in the Saler Shopping Center, which hosts the Runner's Fair where those interested can still register. During the meeting, the director of the 10K Valencia Ibercaja, Alex Aparicio, has detailed that the race has a roster of top international athletes "with which we will fight for the world record in women". The Ethiopian athlete Yalemzerf Yehualaw, who holds the women's world record, will be at the starting line of the 10K Valencia Ibercaja "leading a group of 16 African athletes who come very strong".

In fact, the Ethiopian athlete has been present at the meeting, during which she has been given her bib - the number 1 - and has assured "to feel very happy to run this Sunday in Valencia". "I'm still impressed -she continued- with the wonderful climate of this city. I hope that the 10K will be the icing on the cake of my specific winter training prior to the start of my preparation for the London Marathon".

The 10K Valencia Ibercaja, which maintains the World Record achieved in January 2020 when the athlete Rhonex Kipruto (Kenya) crossed the finish line in 26:24, celebrates this Sunday one of its most competitive and most powerful editions worldwide, and not only for the participation of Yalemzerf Yehualaw. "The best European athletes want to run the 10K Valencia Ibercaja, and the race has about 20 athletes with accredited sub 28' marks," said Aparicio.

During the meeting, José Gil, provincial director of Ibercaja Valencia, main sponsor of the race, stressed that "Ibercaja is proud to support this event that allows us to transmit our commitment to this territory, as well as the intrinsic values of our institution such as excellence, professionalism, overcoming and effort. Also, having the stature of these athletes is a showcase for this city and has consolidated this event at an international level".

Running year kicks off with the 10K

From the Trinidad Alfonso Foundation, its director Juan Miguel Gómez has assured that in Valencia "we know that the running world wakes up every year with this race, one of the emblems of Valencia Ciudad del Running. In addition, this year adds another distance, the 5K, making the city of running reaches both those who are starting out in the world of running, as well as those who dare with the great challenges such as the Marathon or Half Marathon".

In the same sense has been pronounced the Councillor for Sports of the City of Valencia, Javier Mateo, who noted that the sporting year in the city of running starts "with one of the most important events on the calendar, not only at the level of our city, if not international, both in the quality of the organization and sports brands. In fact, we do it with the ambitious goal of fighting for the women's world record.

Participants in the 10K Valencia Ibercaja will take the start from Paseo de la Alameda from 9:30 am, with up to five starts separated by five minutes. So far, of the 12,004 registered participants, 69% are men, 31% women and 39 people have selected the non-binary option.

Also, runners from nearly 30 different nationalities, among which stand out after Spain, France, Italy, United Kingdom and Germany, come to run the 10K Valencia Ibercaja. In addition, as the race director Alex Aparicio has assured, "we have all the ingredients to offer a great party for the thousands of popular runners". At this point, he took the opportunity to thank the confidence that, once again, the runners have placed in this 10K and has assured that the organization "will continue working to not disappoint them and make them enjoy as much as possible".

5K Valencia Let's Go: #LaMitadMásUna (Half Plus One)

In this edition, the 10K Valencia Ibercaja will also celebrate for the first time a parallel 5K. The 5K Valencia Vamos will have about 1500 participants, limit established in this 1st edition, who will start from the Puente de las Flores at 9:00h, half an hour before the 10K. However, the 5K and 10K runners will enter at the same finish line.

It is worth highlighting the large female participation in the 5K, which reached 57%, an outstanding figure in the national panorama in races of these characteristics. This achieves one of the objectives of the race, to achieve #LaMitadMásUna (that more than half of the participants are women). In addition, it also highlights that 32% of the participants will debut in the distance in the 5K Valencia Vamos. Registration is still open at the Runner's Fair.

This race will also have an important novelty. Taking advantage of the experience of the Serrano C.A. runners and with the aim of making it easier for runners to participate, the 5K will place along the peloton five practical runners who will set times of 20′, 22'30", 25′, 27'30" and 30′, with paces ranging from 4'/km to 6'/km.

But the party does not end here. After the celebration of both races, more than 600 children, from 0 to 16 years old, will be able to enjoy the day by joining the 10Kids Valencia. The children's races, with the same start and finish line as the 10K, will start at 11:45 am from the Paseo de la Alameda with distances ranging from 300 to 1500m.

Those interested can still purchase their bibs for 1€ at the Runner's Fair. The proceeds from the sale of these bibs will go entirely to Runners for Ethiopia, solidarity entity of the 15th edition of the 10K Valencia Ibercaja.

You can download the press release by clicking here.

You can download the Media Guide by clicking here.