Korir downplays record pursuit, prioritises victory in Sunday’s Valencia Marathon

Boston Marathon champion John Korir will aim to close off a pretty decent 2025 season, when he lines up for the Valencia Trinidad Alfonso Zurich Marathon scheduled for Sunday, 7 December.

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Korir, who turned 29 on Tuesday, 2 December, is the latest addition to the men’s elite field, which will take place from the Plaça de la Marató.

The Kenyan, who holds a personal best of 2:02.44 he set while winning last year’s Chicago Marathon title, joins a stellar cast, which also includes among others: 2023 champion Sisay Lemma, and this year’s Sydney marathon winner Hailemaryam Kiros.

The World Athletics Platinum Label event, famously known for its fast course, comes just close to two months since Korir failed in his attempt to defend his Chicago Marathon title in October.

Having come out quickly out of the traps, Korir dropped out of the race he thought would bring forth a new world record, paving way for Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo to breeze to a national record time of 2:02:23, which also ranked seventh on the world all-time list.

Another chance now beckons for Korir to right his wrongs, even as he aims to close out a year that saw him win his first Boston Marathon title in a time of 2:04.45 in April.

“My main target is to win,” Korir told The Star while discussing his upcoming race in Valencia. “After Chicago, I took some rest, then went back to training. I have been doing 200km weekly.”

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On whether he will approach Sunday’s race differently to Chicago, he added: “I will run a tactical race; I will not go out hard. The shape that I had in Chicago is still there. My target in Chicago was to run under 2:01, but in Valencia, I am going for the win.”

The event’s course record is held by the late Kelvin Kiptum, who ran the fastest debut in history in 2022, timing 2:01.53.

Also joining Korir in the men’s group will be a number of Kenyans, led by the trio of Edward Cheserek, Hillary Kipkoech, Benard Biwott, and Enock Onchari.

Vincent Nyageo and Patrick Mosin, on the other hand, will be out to make their marathon debuts.

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