The 2026 LA Marathon ended with one of the most dramatic finishes in the race’s 41-year history — and the story behind it gets better the more you dig in.
Nathan Martin, a 36-year-old substitute teacher and cross-country coach at Jackson High School in Michigan, crossed the finish line at Century City on March 8 to win the 41st ASICS Los Angeles Marathon in 2:11:16. The margin of victory? Just 0.01 seconds over Kenya’s Michael Kimani Kamau — the closest finish in the race’s 41-year history.
But the drama didn’t end at the tape.
The Race
Martin spent much of the race off the pace. Kamau had controlled the lead for the majority of the distance, looking set for a comfortable win. Then, with five miles to go, Martin made his move.
“I made an actual move five miles out when I saw no one else was picking up the pace. I decided I needed to push,” Martin said afterward.
By 800 metres out, he could see Kamau ahead of him. By 200 metres, he was flying — his cadence surging to around 214 steps per minute as he reeled in the leader metre by metre. He crossed the line just 0.01 seconds ahead in what race organisers confirmed was the closest finish in the race’s 41-year history.
“I can’t give up.”
Nathan Martin, after winning the 2026 LA Marathon
Then It Got Complicated
With roughly 300 metres to run, something happened that nobody expected.
Kamau — comfortably in the lead — was momentarily thrown off course when the race’s lead vehicles began exiting the route. At the same moment, a spectator carrying a Kenyan flag ran onto the road, further disorientating him. Kamau broke stride. The gap closed.
Video footage circulated rapidly on social media. Runners, coaches and commentators debated whether Kamau had been on course for a comfortable win before the incident. Race officials reviewed the footage and confirmed no official protest had been filed. The results would stand.
Whether the fan interference changed the outcome, we’ll never know for certain. What’s certain is that Nathan Martin crossed the finish line first.
A Moment In History
Martin didn’t just win a marathon. He made history.
He became the first U.S.-born Black man to win the Los Angeles Marathon in the race’s 41-year history. A three-time NAIA national champion at Spring Arbor University in Michigan, Martin had finished seventh at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon — good enough to be respected in the sport, not yet famous enough to be a household name.
He’s a substitute teacher. He coaches high school cross-country kids in Jackson, Michigan. And on March 8, 2026, he became the first U.S.-born Black man to win the LA Marathon.
For the Black running community in America, the significance wasn’t lost on anyone.
Back To School On Monday
By Monday morning, Nathan Martin was presumably back at Jackson High School, coaching his cross-country athletes — the man who had just made history, back in the gym with teenagers learning how to pace themselves over 5K.
It’s the kind of story that doesn’t happen very often. And on March 8, 2026, it happened by a hundredth of a second.
