2026 Sydney Marathon Live Coverage

That is a wrap on race morning in Sydney. We went live on YouTube minutes after the finish to react to all of it: Addisu Gobena’s 2:04:42 course record, Peres Jepchirchir adding a fourth different Major to her collection, Hagos Gebrhiwet’s debut, and the Australian championship decided inside the race.

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Addisu Gobena took 1 minute 24 seconds off the course record with his 2:04:42, a year after finishing second here by ten seconds. The top five men finished within 17 seconds of each other, and the seven fastest marathons ever run in Australia were all run this morning. Peres Jepchirchir’s 2:18:31 came up nine seconds shy of Sifan Hassan’s course record and added a fourth different Major to her collection, Sydney joining Boston, London and New York. Andy Buchanan was the first Australian home in 2:10:14, seven weeks after losing the national record.

Ellie Pashley finished ninth overall in 2:28:27, first of the Australian women in a field headed by an Olympic and world champion. Amelia Clark followed in 2:29:47 and Caitlin Scott in 2:31:11, putting three Australian women inside the top 13 of a World Marathon Major on home roads.

Andy Buchanan crossed in 2:10:14, 16th overall and the leading Australian in the men’s race. He made his Sydney debut seven weeks after losing the national record he had held for 19 months, when Haftu Strintzos ran 2:06:20 at the Gold Coast Marathon in July and took it by two seconds. The Australian marathon championship is decided inside this race, on the same gun and the same course.

Addisu Gobena tops the men’s podium at the 2026 Sydney Marathon, winning in an unofficial 2:04:42 and smashing the previous 2:06:06 course record. Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele Gudeta takes second, just three seconds back, while Lesotho’s Tebello Ramakongoana claims third, 15 seconds behind Gobena. An incredibly tight finish after seven men were still together at 40K.

Peres Jepchirchir tops the women’s podium at the 2026 Sydney Marathon, winning in an unofficial 2:18:31. Fellow Kenyan Irine Cheptai takes second, 3:40 back, with Ethiopia’s Shure Demise Ware finishing third, 4:01 behind the winner. Jepchirchir’s winning time comes just nine seconds shy of the Sydney course record.

Jepchirchir wins the 2026 Sydney Marathon in 2:18:31. The reigning world champion takes the victory after making her move late in the race, but comes agonizingly close to the course record—finishing just nine seconds shy of Sifan Hassan’s 2:18:22 mark from 2025. What a finish from the Kenyan star.

Peres Jepchirchir hit 40K in 2:11:20, and Sydney’s 2:18:22 course record is still within reach! With just 2.2K to go, it’s going to come down to these final minutes. Can she find one last push and take down the record?

Addisu Gobena has won the 2026 Sydney Marathon in 2:04:42 (unofficial time), smashing Hailemaryam Kiros’ previous course record of 2:06:06.

Gobena is currently running 57 seconds inside Sydney Marathon course-record pace, putting Hailemaryam Kiros’ 2:06:06 mark from 2025 under serious threat as the race charges toward the Opera House.

The men’s race is still wide open with just over two kilometers remaining. Gudeta, Gobena, Mekonnen, Simbu, Kiros, Ngetich and Ramakongoana all crossed 40K together in 1:58:38. Seven men, essentially one pack, and now it’s all about who has the legs for the final push to the Opera House.

Peres Jepchirchir is beginning to turn up the pressure. The reigning world champion has pulled just slightly ahead of the other contenders at the 35K mark, testing the women’s lead pack as the race enters its decisive final seven kilometers. Now we’ll see who can respond.

Jepchirchir and Cheptai overtake the leader.

The men have slowed a bit, currently at 2:08 pace.

Cherono, Jepchirchir and Cheptai, Chesang chasing, 1:46 behind the lead pack

Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu is the reigning world marathon champion, making history in Tokyo in 2025 as the first Tanzanian athlete ever to win a global athletics title. He’s also a 2017 World Championships bronze medalist, has finished runner-up at Boston in both 2025 and 2026, and ran a career-best 2:02:47 in Boston this April.

Jepchirchir is one of the most decorated marathoners of her generation. The Kenyan star is the reigning world champion and 2021 Olympic marathon champion, with victories at the Boston, New York City and London Marathons, and a blistering 2:14:43 personal best.

The fastest man in the field, who won Boston in 2024 and has been heavily injured since, has his podium hopes squashed.

Jepchirchir, Shauri, Cheptai have caught the 46-year-old leader. Jepchirchir, a 2:14 runner, will be hard to beat from here on.

Eight men running in a pack, including Simbu, Kiros, Ngetich.

Packed reeled in the early leader. Addisu Gobena of Ethiopia has surged ahead. 2:05:01 PB – always in the conversation, has never won a major. But he’s just 22.

She leads the rest of the pack, including the defending world champion, by 20 seconds, far past halfway. She is 46 years old.

Tebello Ramakongoana a 2:04 runner from Lesotho, turns the screw. Vincent Ngetich goes with. The others a few seconds behind.

Jepchirchir and Cheptai chasing, 20 seconds behind Cherono.