2026 BUENOS AIRES MARATHON PREVIEW: CHEBET'S 2:05:00 RECORD AND A CITY FRESH OFF A WORLD RECORD
The 2026 Buenos Aires Marathon starts at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday, September 20, from Avenida Figueroa Alcorta and Dorrego in Palermo, with more than 15,000 runners expected on a course that holds the fastest marathon times ever run in South America. The race comes four weeks after the city's half marathon hosted a world record, which has raised expectations for the 42-kilometer event.
The Records
The men's course record dates from 2019, when Evans Chebet of Kenya won in 2:05:00. Chebet went on to win the Boston Marathon in 2022 and 2023 and the New York City Marathon in 2022. Rodah Tanui, also of Kenya, won the women's race that year in 2:25:46, then returned to win again in 2022 and 2023, setting the women's course record of 2:24:52 on her third win.
The men's race has been won in under 2:10 in seven of the last eight editions. Victor Kipchirchir ran 2:07:03 in 2022, Cornelius Kibet 2:08:29 in 2023 and Bethwel Yegon 2:09:04 in 2024. Last year's winners were Habtamu Birlew Denekew of Ethiopia and Elfinest Demise Amare, also of Ethiopia, in the race's 40th edition.
The 2021 edition, delayed from 2020, was the last time home-continent runners won. Héctor Garibay of Bolivia and Florencia Borelli of Argentina took the titles that year.
The Field
The organizers, Asociación Ñandú, had not published a full elite start list as of the week before the race. The event has confirmed elite runners from Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Turkey for the 2026 festival, and the field will be built around the pacing needed to threaten Chebet's 2:05:00.
What the city has already seen this season sets the bar. On August 23, Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia ran 56:51 to win the Buenos Aires half marathon, a world record and the first marathon or half marathon world record ever set in South America. Fotyen Tesfay of Ethiopia won the women's half in 1:03:57, a course record.
Those performances were on the half marathon course rather than the marathon route, but they showed that Buenos Aires in late winter can produce world-class times when the wind cooperates.
The Course
The marathon is a single loop that starts and finishes at Figueroa Alcorta and Dorrego beside the Bosques de Palermo. It is flat, fully on asphalt and certified by World Athletics, and the organizers describe it as one of the fastest circuits in Latin America.
The route heads through Palermo and past the Monumental stadium and along Avenida del Libertador before turning toward the center. Runners pass the Obelisco, the Teatro Colón, the Plaza de Mayo and the Casa Rosada, then continue to the waterfront at Puerto Madero and south to La Boca and Caminito before returning north to the finish.
The time limit is six hours, with the course closing at 1:00 p.m. The race has held a World Athletics Label since 2021 and has been run continuously since 1984, when it was known as the Maratón Adidas de la Argentina.
What to Watch
The men's record is the main storyline. Chebet's 2:05:00 has stood for seven years, and no winner since has come within two minutes of it. A 2:04 in Buenos Aires would be a South American all-comers record and would confirm the course as a genuine autumn alternative for East African runners.
On the women's side, Tanui is the only three-time winner in the race's history, and her 2:24:52 has stood for three years. A time under 2:24 in Buenos Aires would be a landmark for the event.
The race's history, from its origins as a spring-season Adidas race to its current status as South America's largest marathon, is covered in our Buenos Aires Marathon history.
The start at 7:00 a.m. local time is 10:00 a.m. UTC, and the elite races should be decided before 9:15 a.m. in Buenos Aires.