Rodrigue Kwizera runs 58:03 in Valencia, a Spanish record that cannot yet count as a European one
Five men broke 59 minutes at the Valencia Half Marathon. Sheila Chepkirui won the women’s race by one second in 1:03:51, the fastest women’s time of 2026 according to the organisers.
Rodrigue Kwizera won the Valencia Half Marathon on 25 October in 58:03, a Spanish record by more than a minute and a half. It was three seconds faster than the European record, but it will not count as one for now.
Kwizera, 27, was born in Burundi and became a Spanish citizen in 2026. Plaza Deportiva and World-Track both reported that his international transfer of allegiance has not yet been formalised by World Athletics, so the European record stays with Sweden’s Andreas Almgren, whose 58:06 was set in 2026.
The previous Spanish record was 59:39, set by Carlos Mayo on the same course in 2023. According to the organisers, Kwizera is the first Spaniard to win the race since it adopted the official half marathon distance of 21.097 km.
Five men under 59 minutes
Kwizera broke away in the closing stages, at around 19 km according to Plaza Deportiva, and crossed the line alone. His clubmate and close friend Thierry Ndikumwenayo, also now running for Spain, was second in 58:09, which also beat the old Spanish record. Kenya’s Victor Kipruto was third in 58:12.
Ethiopia’s Tadese Worku (58:33) and Kenya’s Owen Kapkama (58:42) also went under 59 minutes, World-Track reported. Kwizera’s previous best was 58:16, set in Prague in May, according to the same report.
A one-second women’s race
Sheila Chepkirui, the 2024 New York City Marathon champion, won the women’s race in 1:03:51, one second ahead of her Kenyan compatriot Diana Wanza (1:03:52). Daisilah Jerono completed a Kenyan top three in 1:04:11.
The organisers said Chepkirui’s time was the fastest women’s half marathon of 2026. Reports differ on where it ranks all-time: the organisers put it seventh in history, while World-Track said it ties Yalemzerf Yehualaw for fifth on the World Athletics list.
The organisers said the top ten women were all inside 1:05:40, making it the deepest women’s race in the event’s history by average time. Valencia’s course also holds the women’s world record of 1:02:52, set by Letesenbet Gidey in 2021.
Spain’s Laura Luengo ran 1:08:28 for a national women’s record, improving the 1:08:30 set by Carla Gallardo in Berlin. Luengo said she had not prepared specifically for the distance, the organisers reported.
More than 25,700 people finished the race, according to the organisers.
