Why the Valencia Half Marathon women's race promises to be a thrilling showdown

The Valencia Half Marathon has assembled one of the strongest fields in history and will definitely promise to be a thrilling showpiece.

The race looks to be a battle between Ethiopia's Gotytom Gebreslase, the Kenyan duo of Margaret Chelimo and Irine Cheptai, and Germany's Melat Kejeta.

The Ethiopian, Gebreslase, who is the former world marathon champion will be looking for redemption in the streets of Valencia after failing to defend her title at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

The 28-year-old will hope to improve upon the Personal Best time of 1:05:36 she set a couple of years ago in Manama.

On her part, Chelimo is also an able athlete since she is one of the most versatile athletes on the start line.

After taking the world 10,000m bronze during last year’s edition of the World Championships, she added another global medal to her collection at the World Road Running Championships in Riga where she bagged a silver medal in the half marathon.

She will enjoy the company of compatriot Irene Cheptai, who placed sixth in the 10,000m at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

She set her half marathon PB of 1:05:53 to win in Copenhagen five weeks ago. Cheptai will also be contending for the top prize when she steps foot on the start line.

Meanwhile, Kejeta is the fastest woman in the field, thanks to the 1:05:18 PB she clocked when taking silver at the 2020 World Half Marathon Championships.

She finished sixth in the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics and went on maternity leave in 2022, but has since returned to action this year and placed 11th in the marathon at the World Championships.

Others in action include Ethiopia’s Ftaw Zeray, Nigsti Haftu, and Tigist Gezahagn will also be in the mix.

Zeray placed sixth at the World Road Running Championships while Haftu set her PB of 1:06:17 in Valencia in 2021.