This 2023, the winner of the eDreams Mitja Marató Barcelona 2023, Irine Jepchumba Kimais (01.04:37h), has broken the record of the test that Florence Kiplagat established in 2015 (1:05:09h), improving it by 32 seconds, and establishing the fastest female mark in all half marathons in the world in 2023 and the eighth fastest in all history at this distance.
In fact, on February 19, Irine Jepchumba Kimais starred alongside her Kenyan compatriot Joyciline Jepkosgei in an exciting duel to cross the finish line of the Barcelona half marathon first. Jepkosgei crossed as second in 01:04:46h, also improving Kiplagat’s time by 23 seconds and placing herself as the second best time in the world this year.
On the day of the race, the two fins surpassed kilometer 5 in 15:19′, 19 seconds faster than the winners of this test did in the previous edition. They passed kilometer 10 in 30:37′, going more than 20 seconds faster than the passing time at this point on the women’s elite circuit in 2022, making this duo, Jepchumba-Jepkosgei, stand out from their rivals.
Already at kilometer 15, the Kenyans passed in 45:58′, 36 seconds ahead of the Ethiopian and a priori favorite Genzebe Dibaba. Finally, Jepchumba won the race, establishing a new best female record for the race and this course worldwide, and Jepkosgei, ranked second both on the podium of the race and in the 2023 world rankings.
The four most notable distance races of 21,097 kilometers in Spain (belonging to the Plátano Circuit of the Canary Islands and being the only test not integrated into a marathon, excluding the Behobia SS because it is 20K) have been the Seville half marathon, the Valencia half marathon in 2023 , Málaga and the eDreams Mitja Marató Barcelona by Brooks.
The Seville media is the first to open the calendar, which this year was held on January 29, followed by Barcelona, ??which reached its 33rd edition on February 19. Finally, last October the competitions in Valencia (October 22) and Malaga (October 29) were held.
Having already held the four most important half marathons in the country in 2023 and with the classification data, it can be concluded that the eDreams Mitja Marató Barcelona by Brooks has been the second fastest half marathon (although in the women’s category it is the fastest) and multitudinous crowds in Spain this year, only behind the Valencia average. For its part, third place is distributed to the Malaga average in terms of best times (speed) and the Sevillian average in terms of number of runners.
Below is a breakdown of the 2023 data for the five half marathons mentioned, ordered from highest to lowest:
1. 22,000 – Valencia Half Marathon
2. 21,477 – eDreams Half Marathon Barcelona by Brooks
3. 12,500 – Seville Half Marathon
4. 5,000 – Malaga Half Marathon
*6,000 – for Granollers Half Marathon
1. Kibiwot Kandie (57:40) – Valencia Half Marathon
2. Charles Kipkkuurui Langat (58:53) – eDreams Half Marathon Barcelona by Brooks
3. Geofry Toroitich Kipchumba (59:13) – Malaga Half Marathon
4. Amdework Walelegn (01:00:28) – Seville Half Marathon
*Hagos Gebrehivet (58:55) – Granollers Half Marathon
1. Irine Jepchumba Kinais (01:04:37) – eDreams Mitja Marató Barcelona by Brooks
2. Margaret Chelimo (01:04:46) – Valencia Half Marathon
3. Caroline Nyaguthii Nyoge (01:07:34) – Malaga Half Marathon
4. Betsy Saina (01:08:24) – Seville Half Marathon
* Tigist Gezahegne (01:06:40) – Granollers Half Marathon
1. 01:08:53 – Valencia Half Marathon
2. 01:09:12 – eDreams Half Marathon Barcelona by Brooks
3. 01:11:02 – Seville Half Marathon
4. 01:19:00 – Malaga Half Marathon
1. 01:20:22 – Valencia Half Marathon
2. 01:22:40 – eDreams Half Marathon Barcelona by Brooks
3. 01:25:00 – Seville Half Marathon
4. 01:41:19 – Malaga Half Marathon
