Sports

Alex Yee goes No.2 on UK marathon rankings with 2:06:38 in Valencia

Published

21 hours ago

7 December 2025

Alex Yee goes No.2 on UK marathon rankings with 2:06:38 in Valencia

Olympic triathlon champion now has Mo Farah’s British record in his sights after impressive run in Spain on Sunday as Phil Sesemann, Jonny Mellor and Natasha Wilson also shine.

Alex Yee is the reigning Olympic triathlon champion but he was clearly born to run. Racing in only his second marathon – in Valencia on Sunday (Dec 7) – he clocked 2:06:38 to go No.2 on the UK all-time rankings. Only Mo Farah, with 2:05:11 from Chicago in 2018, has gone quicker.

When Farah was at his peak, Yee featured on the front cover of AW as an English Schools cross-country champion. Since then he has popped up on our cover a few times despite his main focus in recent years being triathlon.

Now, following this sparkling performance on the Spanish streets of Valencia, will he be tempted to have a crack at Farah’s mark in London? Yee’s marathon debut, after all, came in London this year with 2:11:08.

In the build-up to Valencia, Yee had run a slightly disappointing 61:29 half-marathon in the same Spanish city in late October. But on Sunday he went through halfway in 63:30 before running the second half in 63:08.

In the British capital next spring he could face Emile Cairess, the Olympic fourth-placer who, with a best of 2:06:46, has now been relegated to No.3 on the UK rankings. Not that Cairess will begrudge Yee, as the two have trained together in recent weeks along with Phil Sesemann – and Cairess helped pace his friends to around 35km on Sunday.

The ever-improving Sesemann also excelled in Valencia as he clocked 2:07:11 to take six seconds off the lifetime best he ran in Amsterdam in late October. It also means the Leeds runner has crept past Steve Jones’ long-standing British record of 2:07:13 from 1985.

Also thriving in the fast conditions, Jonny Mellor improved his best of 2:09:06 to 2:08:45 just three weeks before his 39th birthday. Mellor, who has a history of bad luck when it comes to selection for major championships, it is a timely run given there are Commonwealth Games and European Championships on home soil in 2026.

Such was the overall standard in Valencia, though, Yee placed seventh, Sesemann 13th and Mellor 22nd. Up ahead, the men’s overall victory went to John Korir, as the Kenyan clocked 2:02:24, adding to his Boston Marathon victory from earlier this year.

Runner-up Amanal Petros ran a German record of 2:04:03. In third, Awet Kibrab ran a Norwegian record of 2:04:24 on his marathon debut, while Suguru Osako clocked a Japanese record of 2:04:55 in fourth.

Fast times in Valencia are almost guaranteed and on a day of PBs and national records, Natasha Wilson (née Cockram) ran a Welsh record of 2:24:21, taking almost two minutes off her best and rising to No.8 on the UK all-time rankings.

First woman home was Joyciline Jepkosgei in a course record and 2025 world leading mark of 2:14:00 after drawing away from fellow Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir in the closing kilometres, the runner-up clocking 2:14:43 as Chloé Herbiet of Belgium finished third in 2:20:38.

Jepkosgei has a good history of running in Valencia as she broke the half-marathon world record in the city in 2017.

Further British performances included Lily Partridge with 2:27:54, Verity Hopkins with 2:31:21 and Jenny Nesbitt with 2:32:48, while Alice Braham, the mum-of-four and former GB junior international, clocked 2:37:05 aged 49.