Cheptegei: I will come back stronger

World 5000m and 10,000m record holder Joshua Cheptegei made his marathon debut in Valencia on Sunday 3 December, finding the going tough as he finished the race in 2:08:59 for 37th place.

Heading to the race, the 5000m Olympic champion and three-time defending world champion in the 10,000 m was touted as a favourite despite this being his first time in the classic distance.

Sisay Lemma, won the race, setting a course record of 2:01:48 to move to fourth on the men’s world all-time list. Cheptegei had remained with the leading pack that went through the opening five kilometers in 14:28 and 10km in 28:56.

The Ugandan was still in the race as seven men blazed through the half marathon checkpoint together in 1:00:35, but was dropped when the next 10km section was covered in 28:38, the quickest of the race to that point, and could not recover to get back in contention.

Sisay Lemma dominates as Alexander Mutiso secures second place in Valencia Marathon

“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. I have had disappointment before and it always made me come back stronger, it is the most powerful lesson in life.

More marathon chapters will be written in the years to come. I want to thank the incredible number of fans who cheered me on today, the organisation for their trust in me, and my team who always got my back (sic),” Cheptegei wrote on his social media after his disappointing start to marathon racing.