Valencia Marathon proposes one million dollar prize for world record

It’s no secret that the Trinidad Alfonso Valencia Marathon in Spain boasts one of the fastest courses and deepest marathon fields in the world. For the second consecutive year, the men’s and women’s winner in Valencia have recorded times under 2:01 and 2:16, respectively. While Valencia isn’t part of the six Abbott World Marathon Majors, it continues to attract some of the world’s fastest distance runners. To set Valencia apart, organizers have an added incentive to the 2024 race—one million euros (CDN $1,400,000) for the man or woman to break the marathon world record on the course.

Juan Roig: "Queremos anunciar que cuando se bata el récord del mundo, daremos un millón de euros, si lo hace en Valencia. Le daremos medio millón Paco (Borao) y otro medio yo al que gane, porque una de nuestras ilusiones es que se bata el récord en Valencia". pic.twitter.com/Uxf1TkjjAg

— EL NEGOCIO DEL RUNNING (@Asb71atleta) December 5, 2023

The announcement came on Monday from Juan Roig, the president of the Trinidad Alfonso Foundation, who said to a Spanish news outlet that it is his dream to witness the marathon world record shattered in Valencia: “We want to announce that whoever breaks the world record will receive one million euros, if they break it in Valencia.” This amount would mark the largest prize purse/bonus from a marathon to date, surpassing the Nagoya Women’s Marathon in Japan, which awards USD $250,000 to the champion.

At this year’s Valencia Marathon, more than 30 men ran under the Olympic standard of 2:08:10–a time that would have placed them inside the top 10 at most marathon majors this year. Valencia has grown over the past decade, and has become a hub for distance running, as evidenced by the world records set by Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei and Ethiopia’s Letensebet Gidey in the 10,000m in 2021.

At this year’s race, Cheptegei made his marathon debut, but fell slightly short of his sub-2:04 goal and finishing in 2:08:59 for 37th place overall. The event also featured one of the most decorated distance runners in history, Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele, who took fourth in a new masters 40+ world record of 2:04:19.

Así ha llegado a meta Joshua Cheptegei en su debut maratoniano pic.twitter.com/Hg5yh4NZsY

— LBDC / SPORT (@BolsaCorredor) December 3, 2023

The men’s marathon world record holder, Kelvin Kiptum, has already revealed his racing plans for 2024. The 24-year-old, with a personal best of 2:00:35, will attempt the world record at April’s Rotterdam Marathon before gearing up for the 2024 Paris Olympics with Team Kenya. Kiptum came onto the scene at the Valencia Marathon last year, winning the race in 2:01:53, marking the fastest men’s debut in the history of the marathon.

According to Forbes, Roig is one of the richest men in Spain, with a net worth of $3.6 billion. Roig and his business partner, Valencia race director Paco Borao, remain confident the world record will someday come to them, and they are committed to doing whatever it takes to attract the world’s fastest athletes to compete there. “One day it will come,” Roig told media. “We will fight for it.”