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Nairobi City Marathon: Record 17,500 runners to hit the streets
Workers put the final touches on the finishing zone of the Nairobi City Marathon at Uhuru Park in Nairobi on June 6, 2026.
What you need to know:
- For the first time, the marathon will start at City Hall’s main entrance opposite Kenyatta International Convention Centre.
- The runners will race through some of the famous streets in Nairobi’s CBD before hitting the Nairobi Expressway.
The fifth edition of the Nairobi City Marathon could produce fast times with some pretty fast distance runners set to battle it out on the main streets of Kenya’s capital city and the Expressway this morning.
For the first time, the marathon, which has attracted a record 17,500 entries, will start at City Hall’s main entrance opposite Kenyatta International Convention Centre.
The runners will race through some of the famous streets in Nairobi’s Central Business District for the first time before hitting the Nairobi Expressway.
John Langat, Jonathan Korir and Commonwealth Games marathon silver medallist Margaret Wangari are some of the big names entered. Racing starts at 6:45am.
Fastest Nairobi City Marathon time
In the men’s race, it will be Langat’s first marathon since finishing 20th in a time of 2:19:32 at Paris Marathon on April 16.
Langat, who has a personal best of 2:07:11, debut in 42km racing with a second-placed finish at the 2016 Daegu Marathon in 2:10:49.
Among his podium finishes is second at the 2017 Annecy Marathon, France in 2:13:10 and the 2017 Melbourne Marathon in 2:14:27 all in 2017.
Langat won Nice Marathon in France in 2:10:25 in 2022 as he settled for second place at the Montreal Marathon in Canada last year.
Korir, who competed at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, finishing fifth, returns to Nairobi after his 19th placed finish at the 2017 Nairobi Standard Chartered Marathon in a time of 2:17:40.
Korir finished second in the 2021 Amsterdam Marathon in a career best time of 2:04:32.
Also in the mix are Simon Kipkosgei, who has a personal best 2:07:07 from a fourth place finish at the 2021 Eindhoven Marathon, and Felix Masai.
The fastest Nairobi City Marathon time is 2:07:38 set by Robert Kemboi in 2023.
Benson Tunyo Murkomen crosses the finish line to win the men's 42km race during the Nairobi City Marathon on July 6, 2025 at Uhuru Park, Nairobi.
Wangari, the 2020 Los Angeles Marathon champion, will be hoping to go one better in the women’s race after finishing second at Eldoret City Marathon six weeks ago.
“I hope to secure a top podium finish this time around,” said Wangari, a second placed finish at the 2023 Prague Marathon.
Wangari holds a personal best time of 2:23:52.
She will face the challenge of Gladys Kerubo Otero, who finished fifth in the Zurich Marathon on April 12 with a time of 2:45:15. Kerubo, the 2025 Leiden Marathon and 2017 Moshi Kilimanjaro Marathon champion, has a career best 2:32:47 from a second place finish at the 2010 Hannover Marathon.
The best women’s time in the Nairobi City Marathon is 2:24:33 registered by Naom Jebet in 2023.
From City Hall, the runners will head towards KenCom before turning left into Mama Ngina Avenue, then on to Moi Avenue.
The athletes will then branch to Muindi Mbingu Street, Kenyatta Avenue and Koinange Street before hitting the University Way onto Uhuru Highway towards Westlands.
Nairobi Expressway closed
The route will take them into the Nairobi Expressway via the Museum Hill exit and all the way to ABC where they make a U-turn and race all the way to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport exit before heading back to the CBD.
They will exit at the Uhuru Park Expressway exit to then finish at Uhuru Park.
Nairobi Expressway was due to be closed on Saturday at 10pm and the other roads that will serve the route at midnight.
The roads will be reopened starting at 1pm today.
The men’s and women’s winners in the marathon will pocket Sh3.5million each, first runners-up Sh2.25m each and second runners-up Sh1.5m.
Other categories of racing are half marathon, 10km and 5km. A humanoid robot will race in the 5km.
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