Baptism by Fire for Cheptegei as Ethiopians Dominate the Valencia Marathon

Before he attempted his first-ever competitive marathon at Valencia, Spain, Joshua Cheptegei, the 10,000m and 5,000m world record holder from Uganda said he would be very patient in his race and not take risks.

“The track has always taught me to be patient when chasing my goals," Cheptegei said before the race. “Marathon has no respect for persons. I want to approach this marathon with a lot of respect because it is something that is very new to me. When you aren't patient in a marathon, it means that you will not be able to reach your destination.”

It was all good at the start, and by the 30km mark, Cheptegei looked comfortable with the leading pack.  But he tired badly after that, and eventually came home 37th but in a respectable time of 2:08:59.

But, just like before, it is not wise to rule Cheptegei out because of a poor result. During the 2007 Cross Country Championships in Kampala, he famously miscounted the number of laps he had to run and burnt out very early. One of the memorable pictures from that race was an almost collapsing Cheptegei finally making it to the finish line. But he would rise from that to become a world beater.

“The marathon is a journey a new chapter that I opened today. I am proud that I finished, despite that the result didn’t match up with what we had trained for,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I have had disappointment before and it always made me come back stronger, it is the most powerful life lesson. More marathon chapters will be written in the years to come.”

Meanwhile, Ethiopia’s Sisay Lemma broke the men’s course record and his countrywoman Worknesh Degefa led an Ethiopian sweep of podium places in the women’s race.

Lemma, fellow Ethiopian Dawit Wolde and Kenya's Kandiwott Kandie broke away from the rest just after the halfway mark, but Lemma would eventually leave the other two with 7km to go to set a new course record of 2: 01:48. Kandie overtook Wolde for second.

In the women’s race, Degefa finished 30 seconds clear of her teammate Almaz Ayana, a former Olympics 10,000m champion. Hiwot Gebrekidan was third to complete the Ethiopian sweep.

Champions Lemma and Degefa each took home €100,000 in prize money, with the total prize money reaching more than €400,000.

Earlier, Kenya legend Eliud Kipchoge, the only man to ever run a marathon in under 2 minutes, said he believes the Ugandan could become the world's fastest man to run a marathon.

"He is already a record holder in other fields and he has a huge chance to break a world record in the marathon," Kipchoge told BBC Sport Africa. “Joshua is talented and disciplined. He is learning well. I am happy he is trying a new venture, and I will be watching and giving my moral support as always."

Cheptegei’s coach Addy Ruiter said Cheptegei is focusing on next year's Olympics in Paris, and is not looking to set any records in the marathon as yet.

“This debut is for learning how the body and mind adapt to marathons, but the focus for next year is the 10,000m at the Olympics," Ruiter said. “After that then he can focus on the marathon 100%.”

Cheptegei is regarded as one of the best distance runners in the world, with three 10,000m world titles and a world cross country title alongside his Olympic gold.