Why Valencia holds a special place in Agnes Ngetich’s memory

On Sunday 27 October, Agnes Ngetich made her Valencia Half Marathon debut in style, narrowly missing out on the women’s world half marathon record in an impressive win to clock 1:03:03.

Already a world record holder for the 10km run by a woman in a mixed-gender race, Ngetich looked prime to beat Letensebet Gidey’s world half marathon record of 1:02:52 but fell 12 seconds short.

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Fotyen Tesfay crossed the finish line in a time of 1:03:21 to finish second as Lilian Kasait, the World Cross Country silver medalist, rounded up the podium in a time of 1:03:32.

Speaking after the race, Ng’etich admitted that she will always remember Valencia for the wonderful memories. The 25-year-old hopes to break more records in the future.

It is in Valencia that she started her year on a high, making history on Sunday 14 January as the first-ever woman to run 10km in under 29 minutes.

The World Cross-Country bronze medalist shed 28 seconds from the previous world record to register an incredible time of 28:46.

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“I’m really happy, and so proud I could reach the second fastest time ever in my debut. Valencia will always stay in my memories. I always remember my record in the 10K. I want to think in Valencia and hope to come again,” she said.

Despite the rain, the Iten-based runner brought her A-game on board, and boy, did she not run a glamorous race?

“Running too fast in the first 10K wasn’t an error, it was done consciously to try to win in Valencia. It’s a great achievement for me. I had a good time and beat the result despite it raining. Someday I’ll try to get a new record, hopefully in Valencia,” she continued.

The youngster was not new to a milestone, having broken the women-only world 10km record in the Transylvania 10km in Brasov, Romania, with a time of 29:24 in September 2023.

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This surpassed the previous mark of 30:01 set by the late Agnes Tirop in Herzogenaurach in 2021. Furthermore, Ngetich completed the first 5km in 14:25 which itself was four seconds faster than the previous women-only world record over this distance.

The same month, the organizers of the run released a statement that the distance of the run was 25m short which led to a non-record-eligible course.