Dutch runner goes for another global mark after recent 1500m and 10,000m world double

The Valencia Half Marathon Trinidad Alfonso EDP is set to see an assault on the world half-marathon record on Sunday, with Sifan Hassan among those targeting the 64:51 run by Joyciline Jepkosgei in the Spanish city two years ago.

Dutch runner Hassan is the European half-marathon record-holder thanks to her 65:15 run in Copenhagen last year and this year she has set world records in the mile and 5km with respective marks of 4:12.33 and 14:44 in Monaco.

At the IAAF World Championships in Doha she achieved a 1500m and 10,000m double. During the event her coach, Alberto Salazar, received a four-year ban for doping violations but has denied any wrongdoing and the IAAF has since reported that Hassan is now being guided by Dutchman Charles van Commenee, the former head coach of UK Athletics who has a history of coaching field eventers and combined events athletes.

Joining Hassan in the women’s field are Kenya’s 64:52 runner Fancy Chemutai and Joan Chelimo plus Ethiopia’s Senbere Teferi, Gelete Burka and world champion Netsanet Gudeta.

Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha, another former Salazar-coached athlete who claimed 10,000m silver in Doha, leads the men’s entries and his half-marathon PB of 59:17 was set last year.

He will be joined by his compatriots Jemal Yimer and 2015 world marathon champion Ghirmay Ghebreslassie, plus Kenya’s Geoffrey Koech and Norway’s Sondre Nordstad Moen.