Marathons are back!
With the first Abbot world marathon major behind us, the 2026 marathon season is officially opened! Whether you have started on the 1st of March in Tokyo, or have to wait until December to race in Valencia, marathons are back! Let’s take a look at some of the upcoming events this spring.
Another successful Tokyo marathon was an exiting opening of the 2026 marathon season. In the end male Kenyan runner Timothy Kiplagat won in 2:02:55, while on the women's side a new course record was set by Brigid Kosgei in 2:14:29! Both blistering fast paces and a great sign of what is to come. Next up in March marathons, one where I ran my current PB, is the Barcelona marathon on the 15th of March. 2025 Saw a course record in both the man’s and woman’s race, could this year see another improvement? At the time of writing it seems like perfect conditions on race day with a high of 16 degrees, and clouds blocking the sun. Other marathons that take place are the Seoul and Rome marathon, the latter being part to the new format of "European Marathon Classics". Overall March will be a great 2026 marathon season opener. Good luck to everyone running their marathon in March.
April will be a huge marathon month! Two marathon majors, Boston and London, as well as the Rotterdam, Hamburg, Paris and Big Sur marathons. Traditionally Easter Monday will be the scene for the Boston marathon. In the women’s field, last year’s winner and course record holder Lokedi will be back to defend her title, and possibly course record with 11 women in the field holding a PB below 2:20! On the men’s side 10 runners hold PB’s below 2:05, with 8 out of the 10 fastest runners of last year lining up! Special mention goes to the Dutch runner Abdi Nageeye who will go to Boston with a lot of experience and a chance to win it all.
If you thought Boston had a competitive filed, London has got you realizing how many fast runners there are! Fastest runner of 2025 Sebastian Sawe will go head to head with the number two of 2025 Jacob Kiplimo, who only recently broke the half marathon world record (for a second time) with a time of 57:20! Will they push each other hard enough so London holds a new world record?
The women’s side will see Sifan Hassan returning to London to try and win it again, whilst Tigst Assefa will try to hold on to her title and the women’s only world record time. On the same date, 26th of April, the Hamburg marathon will also take place! Where none other than founder and coach of SCPIO and writer of this blog, Scipio Bergkamp, will try and beat his PB by 9 minutes and 27 seconds. Surely something to lookout for!
May will hopefully bring us a successful edition of the Cape Town marathon, as last year’s edition unfortunately had to be cancelled due to heavy weather and safety concerns. Good news for Cape Town is the arrival of Eliud Kipchoge at the start line. He will embark on his epic journey of running 7 marathons on 7 continents. I for one hope Cape town marathon will be a great event as it is an event I would love to experience in the future. Other marathons that will take place are the Copenhagen marathon, Geneva marathon, Riga marathon, Edinburgh marathon and Stockholm marathon. Yet another very busy spring marathon month. Good luck to all runners!
Plenty to look out for this spring on your Sunday mornings! Good luck to all you runners out there. Whether it will be your first, or you are trying to smash your PB, remember that your best on race day is always your best! And if you are looking for some tips I wish I knew before my first marathon, read my other blog "Help, I'm running a marathon".
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