Ugandan middle distance runner Joshua Cheptegei will be part of the elite field of athletes that will take part in the NN Valencia World Record Day slated for Wednesday October 7th 2020 in Spain.
The one-off event organised by the NN Running Team, Global Sports Communication and SD Correcaminos has been organised with the primary goal of Joshua Cheptegei making a serious bid on Kenenisa Bekele’s world 10,000m record of 26:17.53.
Cheptegei left the country on Sunday, 4th October aboard a KLM flight.
In the men’s 10,000m race, McSweyn, who recently posted an Australian 3000m record of 7:28.02 in Rome, will hope to lower his national 10,000m record of 27:23.80 in Valencia. Meanwhile, two-time World Championship 10,000m finalist Shadrack Kipchirchir will also line up in the 25-lap race, hoping to mount an assault on the US record of 26:44.36.
Further bolstering the quality of the field is Spain’s Ouassim Oumaiz, who last month set a national U23 5000m record of 13:13.14 in Monaco. Also entered is Joshua’s Ugandan training partner Stephen Kissa – who boasts a handy 10km road best of 27:13.
A team of pacemakers for Cheptegei’s world record bid have also been assembled led by experienced Dutch pacemaker, Roy Hoornweg and supported by Matt Ramsden and Kenyan Nicholas Kipkorir. The assigned 5km split time has been set at an eye-popping 13:05.
In the women’s race, a pair of leading athletes have also been added to the women’s 5000m field – led by Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey. Gidey boasts an impressive set of credentials and last year impressed on all surfaces; winning World Cross Country bronze, World 10,000m silver and obliterating the world 15km mark on the road by one minute 17 seconds, recording a blistering 44:20 in Nijmegen.
Trinidad Alfonso Foundation and Nationale-Nederlanden Spain, part of the NN Group, both known for their involvement and support of running, partnered up to make this unique world record meeting possible.
