LISBON MARATHON HISTORY: FROM A PORTUGUESE CHAMPIONSHIP TO A 2:05 COASTAL COURSE
The Lisbon Marathon has been run every year since 1986, and for most of its first quarter century it was a Portuguese affair, won by Portuguese men in 15 of its first 27 editions and by Portuguese women in 12. Since 2013 it has become an East African race on one of the fastest and most scenic point-to-point courses in Europe, with a men's course record of 2:05:45 set by Andualem Shiferaw in 2022.
The 2026 edition starts in Carcavelos at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 10, and finishes in the Praça do Comércio on the Lisbon waterfront. This is how the race got there.
The Portuguese Years
The first Lisbon Marathon took place in 1986, organized by the Maratona Clube de Portugal, which still runs the event. The early winners were domestic. Cidálio Caetano won the first edition, Gualdino Viegas the second, and Portuguese men took seven of the first eight titles, interrupted only by Osmiro da Silva of Brazil in 1988.
The 1990s brought the first international winners. Jacob Ngunzu of Kenya won in 1992, and William Musyoki, also of Kenya, won three times, in 1995, 1997 and 2000, a record that stood for two decades. Between those wins the race went to runners from Morocco, Poland, Ethiopia, France and Germany, and the winning times settled in the 2:12 to 2:16 range.
The fastest of them was Zbigniew Nadolski of Poland, who ran 2:11:57 in 1994. That time stood as the quickest in the race's history for 19 years, until the East African era began.
The women's race in the 1990s was more international than the men's. Yekaterina Khramenkova of Belarus won in 1992 in 2:30:17, the first woman under 2:31 in Lisbon, and Birgit Jerschabek of Germany ran 2:28:02 in 1995, a mark that stood for 19 years. Claudia Dreher, also of Germany, won in 1997 and 2001.
The women's race in that era belonged to Fátima Silva, who won five times between 2000 and 2007, and to Manuela Machado, the 1995 world champion, who won in 1993. Silva's five titles remain the most by any runner in the race's history.
The 2000s produced a mix of Portuguese and Eastern European winners. Luís Filipe Jesus won in 2003 and 2006, Stephan Freigang of Germany, the 1992 Olympic bronze medalist, won in 2001, and Russian runners Sergey Lukin and Oleg Marusin won in 2008 and 2012. Russian women won four editions between 2003 and 2010.
The most persistent home winner of the decade was Vasco Azevedo, who won in 2007 and then three years in a row from 2009 to 2011. His times, between 2:19 and 2:23, reflect a race that was still a national championship-level event rather than an international elite race. Azevedo's four titles are the most by any man in the race's history.
The East African Era
That changed in 2013. Paul Lonyangata of Kenya won in 2:09:45, the first time anyone had broken 2:10 in Lisbon, and Agnes Kiprop won the women's race in 2:31:15. Samuel Ndungu lowered the men's mark to 2:08:21 the following year, and Visiline Jepkesho ran 2:26:47.
Every winner since has come from Kenya or Ethiopia. Asbel Kipsang won in 2015 in 2:09:26, with Purity Rionoripo taking the women's race in 2:25:09.
The 2016 race produced the women's course record that still stands. Sarah Chepchirchir of Kenya won in 2:24:13, taking almost a minute off Rionoripo's mark and running nearly six minutes faster than her previous best. Second place that day went to Brigid Kosgei in 2:24:45, three years before Kosgei set the marathon world record in Chicago.
Alfred Kering won the men's race in 2:10:27. Chepchirchir went on to win the Tokyo Marathon the following spring.
Chepchirchir defended her title in 2017 in 2:27:57, becoming the first woman to win back-to-back Lisbon titles since Silva. Ishmael Chemtan won the men's race in 2:10:51.
Shiferaw's Three Titles
Limenih Getachew of Ethiopia won in 2018 and Kuftu Dadiso took the women's race in 2:24:56, 43 seconds outside Chepchirchir's record. The 2019 race introduced the runner who would define the next phase of the event.
Shiferaw won in 2019 in 2:05:59, the first sub-2:06 in Lisbon and a course record by more than a minute and a half. Sechale Dalasa won the women's race in 2:29:51.
The 2020 edition was postponed because of the pandemic and eventually held on October 17, 2021, when Shiferaw won again in 2:05:52. Asayech Ayalew took the women's race in 2:25:07.
Shiferaw returned in 2022 and beat his own record by seven seconds, running 2:05:45 for his third straight title. Bornes Jepkirui Kitur won the women's race in 2:24:17, four seconds outside Chepchirchir's course record and the closest anyone has come to it since 2016.
Recent Editions
The winners have changed every year since Shiferaw's run. Birhan Nebebew of Ethiopia won in 2023 in 2:09:31, with Aberu Ayana taking the women's race in 2:25:06. Wisley Kimeli of Kenya won in 2024 in 2:08:33 and Rael Kinyara in 2:27:11, on a day when the marathon and half marathon were run together on October 6.
In 2025 the marathon moved to its own date, October 25, and Zablon Chumba of Kenya won in 2:07:11. Abebech Afework of Ethiopia won the women's race in 2:29:00.
The separation of the two races is now permanent. For 2026 the marathon runs on Saturday, October 10, with an 8:00 a.m. start on the coast road at Carcavelos, and the half marathon follows on Sunday, October 11, at 9:20 a.m., starting on the Vasco da Gama Bridge, the longest bridge in Europe. Both races finish in the same square.
Repeat Winners and Records
Silva's five titles lead the all-time list, followed by Azevedo with four and Musyoki and Shiferaw with three each. Jesus, Dreher and Chepchirchir each won twice. Since the East African era began in 2013, Shiferaw is the only runner to win the race more than once.
The men's course record has fallen six times since 2013, from Lonyangata's 2:09:45 to Ndungu's 2:08:21, Getachew's run in 2018, and then Shiferaw's three marks of 2:05:59, 2:05:52 and 2:05:45. The women's record has moved only twice in the same period, from Jepkesho's 2:26:47 in 2014 to Rionoripo's 2:25:09 in 2015 and then Chepchirchir's 2:24:13.
The Course
The marathon is a point-to-point route along the Atlantic coast and the Tagus estuary, and the organizers describe it as 100 percent sea and river side. It starts on the coast at Carcavelos, a few kilometers east of Cascais, and heads toward the city.
The early kilometers follow the Estrada Marginal along the Estoril coast, past beaches and the Estoril casino, on flat road with the ocean on the right. The route passes through the waterfront gardens of Oeiras before reaching the western edge of Lisbon.
Around 32 kilometers the course passes the Belém Tower and the Jerónimos Monastery, two 16th-century monuments from Portugal's Age of Discovery and both UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Ponte 25 de Abril suspension bridge and the Cristo Rei statue across the river come into view a few kilometers later.
The finish is in the Praça do Comércio, the large waterfront square beneath a triumphal arch that opens onto the old center of the city. Live music is staged along the route and a concert follows at the finish, part of the organizers' effort to sell the race as a destination event as much as a competition. Total elevation gain over the 42.195 kilometers is around 100 meters, which explains why the race has produced three sub-2:06 winning times since 2019.
The Race Today
The marathon holds a World Athletics Elite Label and sits on the October calendar alongside the half marathon, which draws a large field of its own. The full marathon has a six-hour time limit and a field of around 8,000 runners, and it has been promoted heavily as a destination race for runners from outside Portugal.
The October event is distinct from the city's other famous road race, the Lisbon half marathon held each March, where Zersenay Tadese set a world record of 58:23 in 2010. The two share the Praça do Comércio finish and the same organizer, but the autumn marathon is the only one of the two that runs the full coastal distance from Carcavelos.
The 2026 race will be the 40th edition. The records to beat on October 10 are Shiferaw's 2:05:45 and Chepchirchir's 2:24:13, and the finish line sits in the square rebuilt after the earthquake of 1755, one of the oldest planned public spaces in Europe. The women's mark has now survived 10 years, while the men's record has been lowered three times in the last seven editions.
The race that began as a domestic championship on a coastal road has become one of the reliable fast autumn marathons in Europe. Its history divides neatly into two halves: 27 years of mostly Portuguese winners, and 13 years in which the finish line at the Praça do Comércio has belonged to Kenya and Ethiopia.