Staggering 17,000 athletes register for 2026 Nairobi City Marathon

The annual marathon, shaping up to be the biggest and most inclusive in Africa, will feature four categories: the 42km full marathon, 21km half marathon, 10km run, and 5km fun run.

Most of the runners are from Kenya (15,000), with international participation from 75 countries, including China, India, and the United Kingdom signifying the importance of Kenyan athletes growing this annual event to continental level.

According to the race Technical Director George Kariuki, the event will start at City Hall from 6:45am, and take place largely along the Nairobi Expressway with the finishing line set for Uhuru Park.

“From City Hall, we are going to pass through Kencom, International House and Hilton Hotel. Then, enter Mama Ngina and join Moi Avenue all the way to University Roundabout and at the University Roundabout we go towards Westlands and enter the Expressway at the exit at the Museum exit,” said Kariuki.

The race has drawn top-tier talent, including 2026 Barcelona Marathon third-place finisher Jonathan Korir who has a personal best time of 2:04:32, John Langat, and Simon Kipkoskei, who will be competing in the 42km full marathon.

Competition Director Barnaba Korir, who doubles up as the Athletics Kenya Nairobi branch chairman, praised the marathon's growing global appeal.

“This is a marathon that is going to drive the sports, especially marathons in Kenya. It is going to be actually the best marathon that we can organize in Africa, especially when the Nairobians, the County Government, is part and parcel of this event,” said Korir.

“When we started the first edition, we had only 10,000 runners, which was already a remarkable achievement. Then we grew to 13,000, and then to 15,000. Each year, the positive feedback was overwhelming, and the interest from both local and international runners kept growing beyond our expectation.”

“People fell in love with this race. They fell in love with the city, the atmosphere, the energy, and they kept coming back and bringing their friends. Amazingly, this race was opened recently, and you cannot imagine in three weeks it was completely full,” he added.

The winners of the 42km race are set to walk away with Ksh 3.5 million as prize money, while second and third placed runners are set to pocket Ksh 2.25 million and Ksh 1.5 million, respectively.