Kiplimo smashes the world record for the Half Marathon in Barcelona

BarcelonaThe 2025 Barcelona Half Marathon will be remembered for two reasons. One, the record number of participants, with more than 30,000 athletes filling the streets on a cold morning. But especially for the second, the new world record for the discipline, the work of the Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who stopped the clock with a time of 56 minutes and 42 seconds. The previous world record was held by the Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha, achieved in 2024 in Valencia, with a time of 57 minutes and 30 seconds. Curiously, when Kejelcha achieved this world record, he left Kiplimo himself without a record, who had already achieved the best time in history in 2021 in Lisbon with a time of 57 minutes and 31 seconds. Today he has set his second world record with a memorable race.

Kiplimo, 24, did not even need the help of the pacemakers, as he preferred to run alone after the first three kilometres. He thus became the first man to go under 57 minutes with a frenetic pace of 2.42 minutes per kilometre. His time was so spectacular that it beat the previous record for the Catalan race by more than two minutes, held by Kenyan Charles Kipkkurui Langat, with 58 minutes and 53 seconds from 2023. The men's podium in this edition was completed by Kenyans Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor, with a time of 4.40.

Kiplimo, a bronze medallist at the 5,000 metres at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, has specialised in the half marathon in recent years, winning the World Championships and various other events. Born into a family where he was the youngest of 18 siblings in a rural community of the Sebai ethnic group, on the border between Uganda and Kenya, Kiplimo grew up at almost two thousand metres above sea level, which has helped him to be a powerful athlete who quickly began to win races. "I am very excited about what I have done. I went out strongly in the first two kilometres to leave my rivals behind. I wanted to have a great race, but I did not expect to break the world record. When I saw that I was at record pace, I decided to maintain it. I told myself that I could not beat the man who set the pace," he explained at the end of the race. Kiplimo usually trains with Joshua Cheptegei, the current world record holder for the 5,000 and 10,000 metres. Uganda has been developing into a great source of athletes ready to challenge the Kenyans and Ethiopians for years.

In the women's category, Kenyan athlete Joyciline Jepkosgei broke the record for the race after completing the 21.095 kilometres in a time of 1 hour, 4 minutes and 15 seconds. Jepkosgei lowered the record for the race by 14 seconds, which she herself had held since 2024 with 1 hour, 4 minutes and 29 seconds. Kenyan Lydiah Chepkurui finished second, and Alemtsehay Zerihun from Ethiopia came third.

Record number of participants

Some 30,000 athletes, the all-time record for the event, set off from Passeig Picasso at 8:30 a.m. to finish their route on Passeig Pujades, in the Parc de la Ciutadella, after having run through the main arteries of the Catalan capital such as Avenida Paral lel and Gran Via de las Corts. The 30,000 participants, from 95 different countries, have made the Barcelona Half Marathon the second most crowded in Europe (behind Berlin) and the first in Spain. In addition, 40% of the athletes will be women, a figure that continues to grow, since in 2024 they were 35%.

Among the participants was the president of the Generalitat Salvador Illa, who usually participates in these races whenever he can and this year he finished the race in 1 hour, 36 minutes and 43 seconds. In fact, in 2024, he already completed the Barcelona Marathon with a good time, as he went under three hours.