Dulce Félix fifth ranked in the Valencia Marathon
Portugal’s Dulce Félix finished in fifth place at the Valencia Marathon in Spain, seven seconds behind her personal record, in a race in which records were beaten.
The Benfica athlete, who was away from home for more than two years to be a mother, returned to the marathon with a 2: 25.22-hour mark, her second best ever, in a race she did cautiously – half marathon in 1: 12.50.
“From Portugal, I knew I had to run cautiously because my goal was to stay in the Olympic Preparation and I would have to race to a mark of 2:28. However much experience I have had and despite having obtained an excellent mark in the half marathon in Lisbon, I was scared a little the reaction that my body could have since it had not been that way for a long time. During the race I never controlled where I was, I only knew that I was going through some, which was fifth classified, with my second record ever, “said Dulce Felix.
Happy for the result achieved, Dulce Felix now wants to enjoy the moment to enjoy the excellent result on returning at this distance.
“I have yet to set goals for the World Championships, whether I will go to the 10,000 meters or marathon. Now I am even more focused on competing in the events of my club, Benfica, which has supported me a lot in the last two years and now I want to reciprocate”.
The women’s race was won by Ethiopian Ashete Dido, who cut the finish in 2: 21.13 hours, beating in more than three minutes the previous record of the race (2: 24.48) and improving his personal record (2: 23.27).
Dido surpassed Kenyan Lydia Cheromei in the last two kilometres, who had made the whole race ahead, reaching more than one minute of advantage, finishing in second place with 2: 22.12. Ethiopian Tinbit Weldegebril closed the podium with a personal record of 2: 23.37.
Ethiopian Leul Gebreselassie won the men’s event at 2:04 p.m., significantly improving the previous record (2: 05.15), which belonged to Sammy Kitwara (now seventh in 2: 06.20) since last year.
They climbed to the podium Elhassan El Abbasi (Bahrain), who improved his personal record from 2: 10.57 to 2: 04.42, getting third place for Kenyan Matthew Kisorio (2:04:52, also best personal mark).
In the men’s event, the Portuguese Nuno Lopes debuted, which ended with a mark of 2: 16.39 hours.
