Valencia, 05-01-2024.- The 10K Valencia Ibercaja is finalizing the details to offer again a great show in what will be its 16th edition. The race, which has already closed its registrations after exhausting the available numbers, will feature more than 100 elite athletes from fifteen different nationalities in search of their best marks in the city of running.
The fastest 10K in the world continues to set the bar high and, after the World Record still in force achieved in 2020 by Rhonex Kipruto (26:24), this January 14 will seek to break other very important records. In women, the Kenyan athlete Agnes Jebet Ngetich will attack the women's 10K world record trying to improve her best time achieved in Lille (France) in 2023, when she was only 12 seconds behind the world record held by Yalemzerf Yehualaw (Castellón 2022, 29:14).
In this sense, the coordinator of the elite athletes of the race, José Enrique Muñoz Acuña, has assured that the athlete "arrives at the starting line in top form to try to unseat the world record of Yalemzerf Yehualaw, who was also going to accompany him this year, but was prevented by a last minute injury. The Kenyan Jesca Chelangat was also going to be in Valencia on January 14, but a viral process has made it impossible for her".
As for the participation of elite male athletes, he highlights that the race will have four under 27 runners led by the great Ugandan athlete Jacob Kiplimo, current world record holder in the half marathon. "In this edition we will again have a top-level line-up led by Jacob: four U27 athletes, 16 U28 athletes and more than thirty U29 athletes."
As for the Spanish elite, the presence of athletes of the stature of Abdessamad Oukhelfen in men and Agueda Marques in women, who come to the 10K in a very good shape and with great ambitions.
International benchmark in the distance
This 10K," said Acuña, "is more international every year, more and more athletes come from all over the world. We are a world reference of the distance and the best athletes want to run in Valencia". The presence of athletes of up to fifteen different nationalities stands out. Among the most represented countries are Ethiopia, Kenya, France, Great Britain, Holland and Sweden; but also athletes from Poland, Uganda, Norway or China arrive.
The best of Europe, in the 10K
On the starting line will be, in addition to the aforementioned Agnes Jebet, who achieved the national 10K record in Kenya (Lille 2023, 29:26), other athletes who also hold national records in their country. Joy Cheptoyek (Uganda) achieved it in Castellon in 2023 (30:47) and Francine Niyomukunzi (Burundi) in Forli in 2021 (31:46).
In the men's race, up to seven athletes who are defending the national 10K record in their country will participate, such as Rodrigue Kwizera (Burundi, 26:56) and Richard Douma (Netherlands, 28:08), among others.
Also on the starting line will be the refugee athlete from South Sudan who has recently obtained Swiss nationality Dominic Lobalu, who in the last edition of the 10K achieved a 27:09 and who in the last edition of the Cursa dels Nassos was proclaimed winner stopping the clock in 13:12, which means sharing the European 5K Record with Jimmy Gressier.
sold out
The 10K Valencia Ibercaja and the 5K Valencia Vamos, which celebrate their 16th and 2nd edition, respectively, this Sunday, January 14, have closed their registrations after exhausting all the bibs available for this year. They will no longer be available at the Race Fair either.
Registrations were opened in April with an initial promotion of 12 euros, then going through different price brackets depending on the number of runners registered at any given time. The 10K sold out its initial 13,000 bibs on December 18, when the Organization offered 1,000 extra bibs for those who were left out but still wanted to join the party. These extra bibs, which no longer included the gift of the technical garment, were sold out this morning, as were those of the 5K Valencia Vamos, reaching 1500 bibs available for what will be its 2nd edition.
