Marathon News , 28 September 2026

Berlin, Germany

Assefa won the Berlin Marathon on 27 September in 2:11:04, a course record, 49 seconds under her own 2:11:53 from 2023 and 1:08 outside Chepngetich's world record of 2:09:56. Adola won the men's race in 2:02:50, ahead of Diriba in 2:03:19 and Geay in 2:03:59, with Sawe and Bekele both out injured. The times are the organiser's official results.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Reported Chesir won the Maratón de Buenos Aires on 20 September in 2:23:36, a women's course record according to the Argentine press. Chumba won the men's race in 2:08:28. The field was 16,384 runners from 64 countries.

Sydney, Australia

Gobena won the Sydney Marathon on 30 August in 2:04:42, taking the course record down from 2:06:06, and six more men also finished inside the old mark. Jepchirchir won the women's race in 2:18:31. About 40,000 people took part.

Tokyo, Japan

Runners drawn in the Tokyo 2027 lottery were told on 18 September, and the entry fee has to be paid by 30 September at 17:00 Japan time, or the place is gone. That is 10:00 in Central Europe and 04:00 on the US East Coast. The race is on Sunday 7 March 2027, its 20th edition, and the 10.7 km event is no longer part of it.

Paris, France

Entries to the draw for the 50th Paris Marathon, on Sunday 4 April 2027, close on 30 September. The draw runs from 1 October, and anyone drawn has 72 hours to confirm and pay the flat €169, with 5% off for holders of a French athletics licence. About 1,000 places at €50 are kept for job seekers, grant-holding students and people on RSA or AAH: some reports say 2,000, and the French press puts it at about 1,000.

Berlin, Germany

The draw for the 2027 Berlin Marathon is open from 1 October to 12 November 2026, according to the organiser's 2026 race briefing. Race day is Sunday 26 September 2027. The lottery page on the race website still showed older dates on 27 September, so the briefing is the newer of the two.

Kyoto, Japan

Runners living outside Japan enter Kyoto first come, first served, for 3,000 places at ¥35,000. The window closes on 30 September at 17:00 Japan time, sooner if the places run out. The race is on Sunday 21 February 2027.

Xiamen, China

The ballot for the 2027 Xiamen Marathon is open until 14 October, per the databank's last check on 25 September.

Cologne, Germany

The Cologne Marathon starts at 10:30 at Ottoplatz by Deutz station, on the east bank of the Rhine, and finishes on Komödienstraße at the foot of the cathedral. The field is capped at 15,000. Several listings give the cap as 12,000; the organiser's own page says 15,000.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The full marathon is flagged off at 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, with the other distances on Saturday 3 October. The start and finish are at Dataran Merdeka. The organiser has not published a field size for 2026.

Quebec City, Canada

The marathon starts and finishes at Place Jean-Béliveau at 8:00, through three boroughs and nine neighbourhoods, past the Château Frontenac, Petit Champlain, Place Royale and the Plains of Abraham. Older listings describe a start in Lévis and a bridge crossing; the organiser's course has neither.

Boston, United States

For the 2027 race, qualifying times from courses with a large net drop are adjusted for the first time: a drop of 1,500 to 2,999 feet (about 460 to 910 m) adds five minutes, 3,000 to 5,999 feet adds ten, and a time from a course that drops 6,000 feet or more is not accepted. St George, which drops about 2,560 feet, falls in the five-minute tier. Registration ran from 14 to 18 September, the B.A.A. says acceptances go out by early October, and the cutoff time has not been published yet.

Chicago, United States

The organiser puts the field at more than 55,000 participants, its largest yet. Kiplimo and Feysa return to defend their titles, Kosgei is back, Lokedi makes her Chicago debut and Abdi was added on 22 September, according to the elite field reports.

Chicago, United States

Applications for the 2027 Chicago Marathon open on 8 October at 08:00 Chicago time and close on 29 October at 14:00. The draw is on 8 December.

The marathon in Košice, Slovakia, was first run on 28 October 1924, and its organiser calls it the oldest marathon in Europe. The 103rd edition starts at 9:00 on Sunday 4 October.

Cape Town, South Africa

Cape Town is now the eighth of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, and its 2027 race on 23 May is the first run as one. Shanghai joins in 2027 only if it passes a second assessment at its race on 6 December 2026, and if it does, the medal for running every Major will carry nine stars.

London, United Kingdom

On 23 July World Athletics ratified Sawe's 1:59:30 from the London Marathon of 26 April 2026, the first marathon under two hours to count as a world record. Assefa's 2:15:41 women-only world record was ratified at the same time.

London, United Kingdom

The ballot for the 2027 London Marathon drew 1,338,544 applications, the most for any marathon. The field is 100,000 runners, spread over a one-off two-day race on 24 and 25 April 2027.

Reported The Athletics Integrity Unit has provisionally suspended Ruti Aga, who won the Tokyo Marathon in 2019, Athletics Weekly reported on 17 September. A provisional suspension is not a ban: no sanction has been decided, and she can contest the case.