With the 2025 Valencia Marathon scheduled for December 7, many fans kept waiting for an update from the BYU alum, Clayton Young. Like many others, the Olympian was also set to close out the year with the 26.2-mile run. But just days before the race, the American marathoner delivered an unfortunate and unexpected update. 

He took to Instagram and shared a video of himself running on asphalt. But while the visuals were positive, the caption revealed the true story. Young has been battling an injury for more than a month, and that has forced him to withdraw his participation from the 2025 Valencia Marathon. 

“Bad news. I am not racing the Valencia marathon this weekend. Turns out my injury was just as stubborn as I am. After six weeks on the injury merry-go-round of the stages of grief, I am grateful to be back running again. I learned a lot about myself,” explained Young in his caption.

In February 2023, a knee injury that required surgery sidelined Young. It was a setback so severe that when he attempted to resume running about two months later, the pain was as if it had never left. On top of that, he’s been managing an ongoing Achilles injury – a problem that almost every runner has to battle. The Achilles injury happened earlier in 2022, when he was going through a 22.2-mile run. Achilles issues are notoriously slow to heal, especially for high-mileage marathoners, and can easily resurface during intense training blocks.

Nevertheless, Young persevered. Recently, during the Tokyo Marathon, he suffered a fall. Yet, he managed to get back up and finish the race in the ninth spot. Although he didn’t specify the exact diagnosis in his recent announcement, his injury history paints a clearer picture of what might be troubling him.

But hope is still alive, and we can expect him to make a massive comeback in 2026. 

“Clayton 2.0 coming soon,” he continued. “Big spring plans. See you out on the roads soon. Best of luck to all those racing this weekend!”

And with that, his fellow professional runners and fans took over the comments section to pray for his quick recovery. 

Fans send prayers as Clayton Young drops his Valencia Marathon stance

Most fans joined hands to pray for Young’s recovery. 

“I’m praying that you have a speedy recovery. You’re amazing!”

Another fan added to the feeling and claimed that it was indeed an unfortunate piece of news. Given his history with injuries and the resilience that he has shown in the past, we can certainly expect him to come back stronger. 

“Unfortunate 😢 continue to recover!” 

One fan tipped his hat to the athlete in a different way.

“Honestly hats off to you for a long time being solidly healthy before this, good to reset, you’ll be back better than ever. Remember those first couple builds and the learning you went through to now. The experience is with you, your body doesn’t forget.”

Additionally, professional runners also stood beside Clayton Young and pushed him towards the road to a speedy recovery. Fellow marathoner Ogra Bagryantseva wrote, “Take your time!…”

Heather Jenson, a 34-time marathoner, commented, “Sending you lots of love and healing ❤️‍🩹.”

Additionally, online coach Norman Simon hyped up Young’s 2026 season, writing, “2026 will be amazing, can’t wait to see you crush it!

As Clayton Young steps back to heal, the outpouring of encouragement shows just how strongly the running community stands behind him. But can he really make a strong comeback in 2026?