The Valencia Half Marathon, a World Athletics Gold Label road race held on Sunday 25 October, delivered a strong set of results for American runners, with four men finishing inside 1:05 and two women breaking 70 minutes. The headlines on the day belonged to Rodrigue Kwizera’s Spanish record and Sheila Chepkirui’s world-leading time, but the depth of the American performances was notable in its own right.
Emily Venters was the first American woman home in 1:07:37, a personal best that improved on the 1:08:48 she ran at the Houston Half Marathon in 2025. Venters, the US 10K and 6K road champion, moved to joint 13th on the American all-time half marathon list with the run and finished 17th overall in an exceptionally deep field.
Allie Ostrander ran 1:08:55, another personal best, which improved on the 1:10:11 she ran at the Houston Half earlier in 2026. The 29-year-old, a three-time NCAA champion at Boise State, is preparing for her first full marathon later this year, and the performance in Valencia will have given her useful confidence going into that debut.
In the men’s race Chandler Gibbens led the Americans with 1:01:43, a personal best that took 14 seconds off his previous mark and placed him 25th overall. The 26-year-old is working towards the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Jacob Thomson, the 2023 US half marathon champion, ran a lifetime best of 1:02:00 at the age of 31, while Anthony Raftis (1:04:18) and Spencer Brown (1:04:51) also finished.
Taken together, the cluster of personal bests suggests that the Valencia course and its tightly packed fields remain a productive environment for runners looking to move up the national rankings, and Ostrander’s marathon debut later this year will be one to watch.