Valencia Marathon, live.

The fastest 42 kilometres on earth

Flat, at sea level, in December, with a finish line laid on a bridge over water: Valencia is where personal bests happen.

The Valencia Marathon has become the fastest course in world marathoning, and thousands of runners travel there every December for exactly one reason: the clock. The route is flat from start to finish, never leaves sea level, runs through the old city and the Turia gardens, and ends on the blue carpet laid across the water at the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències — a finish straight that has produced more national records and Olympic qualifiers than most courses see in a decade.

A fast course also means an enormous field and pacing groups that stretch for hundreds of metres, which makes finding one runner from the barrier close to impossible. Livebib puts the route on the map with the runner on it, distance covered and an arrival estimate for the blue carpet that updates as the splits come in. One link, free to watch, from anywhere.