Kenyans win Malaga Marathon as foreign entries hit 69 per cent

Kenyan runners dominated the Generali Malaga Marathon on Sunday as Rebecca Kangogo set a women's course record of 2:21:17 and her compatriot Simon Njuguna won the men’s race in 2:08:17.

The international flavour went well beyond the elite field. This year’s event was the first to be held in November, and it attracted about 17,000 entrants, with a record 69 per cent from abroad. Of those, 13,406 started either the marathon or the half marathon and 12,526 finished.

Bringing the race forward a month paid off, as runners got overcast, windless conditions and a temperature of 17 degrees Celsius. Before the start, a minute’s silence was held for the victims of the train crash in Urda.

A fast women’s race was expected, as three elite entrants had personal bests faster than the course record of 2:24:43, set by Ethiopia’s Misgane Alemayehu last year.

Kangogo was the one who delivered. She broke clear in the closing kilometres and ran the length of Calle Larios and the Paseo del Parque alone. She crossed the line in 2:21:17, a personal best that put her 16th overall.

Behind her, Ivyne Jeruto Lagat took second in 2:22:30, and Rodah Jepkorir was third in 2:24:32.

The men’s race, by contrast, was never fast enough to threaten the course record of 2:06:07, held by Uganda’s Mande Bushendich, so the drama came late on.

Shortly after passing the Ciudad de Málaga athletics stadium at the 35-kilometre mark, Njuguna and fellow Kenyan Victor Kiplimo broke away from the rest. Kiplimo led the breakaway, but Njuguna overtook him at the end of Calle Larios and won by eight seconds. Gaddisa Tafa Dekeba was third in 2:08:55.

Further back, Álex Jiménez, the world 50km silver medallist, was the first Spaniard home. He finished 14th in 2:18:13.

The marathon may have gone to the Kenyans, but Spanish runners won the half marathon. Jorge Blanco, the European road running silver medallist and 2022 Spanish marathon champion, led from the start and won in a course record of 1:03:34.

He wasn’t the only one to beat the previous best of 1:05:43, which Francisco Javier de León set in 2023. Olympian Dani Mateo also went under it, finishing second in 1:04:11, and John Travers was third in 1:05:40.

The women’s half also had a home winner. Lidia Campo, the Spanish 10km champion, won in 1:14:21, more than three minutes clear of Emma Styles Santrain (1:17:58). Hana Homolkova was third in 1:18:47.