VALENCIA MARATHON RECAP: Wild Finishes, National Records & The Fastest Course on Earth?

In this instant-reaction episode of the Marathon Handbook Podcast, Michael Doyle and Jessy Carveth break down the 2025 Valencia Marathon — one of the fastest and wildest race days in recent memory. We dig into why Valencia is producing historic times, the insane number of national records, John Korir’s redemption run, Joyciline Jepkosgei’s dominance, and whether Valencia should be a World Marathon Major. We also talk Alex Yee’s breakthrough, the American performances, and the deeper question: Do we currently have a sub-2 marathon talent? Timestamped Chapters 00:00 – Intro 00:09 – Jessy arrives in Valencia + race vibe 02:14 – Why is Valencia so fast? 06:48 – Kofuzi & mid-pack dynamics 08:46 – The wild sub-3 statistics 10:45 – Should Valencia be a World Marathon Major? 12:46 – Ad break: Wahoo Kickr Run 14:24 – Men’s elite race breakdown 16:02 – John Korir’s mid-race fade… and huge surge 18:20 – Podium + national records 20:17 – Why they didn’t chase sub-2 or the course record 22:15 – Year-end marathon power rankings 24:14 – Who can break 2:00? 28:50 – Jessy’s spicy take: No sub-2 talent right now 32:15 – More elite analysis 33:27 – All national records of the day 36:08 – Men’s performance of the day: Alex Yee 40:24 – Amanal Petros redemption arc 42:02 – Women’s race begins 43:57 – Duel: Jepkosgei vs. Jepchirchir 46:00 – Race-winning move by Jepkosgei 48:19 – American results 50:32 – Melinda Elmore’s huge run 52:50 – Underrated performance of the day 54:26 – Should Valencia become a major? 57:48 – Why it shouldn’t 1:00:10 – What Valencia must improve 1:04:36 – Closing thoughts + upcoming podcast episodes #ValenciaMarathon #MarathonHandbook #RunningPodcast #MarathonNews #EliteRunning #RoadRacing