Sydney Marathon elite field boasts two

The TCS Sydney Marathon begins this Sunday. In its second year as an Abbott World Marathon Major, the event has attracted an elite field featuring both reigning marathon world champions, according to a report from Running Magazine Canada.

Alphonce Felix Simbu of Tanzania headlines the men's field. Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya leads the women's contingent. They are joined by a deep group of runners with numerous podium finishes, setting the stage for competitive races.

Sydney was announced as an Abbott World Marathon Major in November 2024 and hosted its first event as part of the series in 2025. The marathon has since become one of the world's fastest-growing, receiving more than 123,000 entries for the 2026 race and accepting 40,000 entrants.

Elite Men's Field

The men's course record could fall. Ethiopia's Hailemaryam Kiros set the mark at 2:06:06 in the event's first year as a World Major. For the 2026 race, nineteen entered men have a personal best under that previous record.

Alphonce Felix Simbu won the world title at the 2025 Tokyo World Championships in 2:09:48. He out-dipped Germany's Amanal Petros by three-hundredths of a second. Simbu finished second at the 2026 Boston Marathon in 2:02:47, battling 2021 Boston champion Benson Kipruto of Kenya, who finished third in 2:02:50.

The fastest personal best in the field belongs to Ethiopia's Sisay Lemma, who ran 2:01:48 at Valencia in 2023. His only race this year was the Seoul Marathon in March, where he did not finish. His fitness is reportedly in question due to injuries.

Ethiopia's Hagos Gebrhiwet will make his marathon debut in Sydney. He owns the second-fastest 5,000m time ever with an Ethiopian record of 12:36.73 and the fourth-fastest half-marathon time at 57:41.

Women's Elite Field

The women's race features reigning world and 2021 Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir. She owns the fastest personal best in the field at 2:14:43, set at Valencia in 2025. Sydney will be her season debut.

The next-fastest personal best belongs to Kenya's Irine Cheptai, who ran 2:17:51 at the Chicago Marathon in 2024. Another contender is Tanzanian record holder Magdalena Shauri, whose national record of 2:18:03 was set at the 2025 Chicago Marathon.

Five women in the field have personal bests under the previous course record of 2:18:22, set by Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands in 2025. With such a deep field, Sydney could see both course records fall for the second consecutive year.

The event announced a partnership with Marathon State of Mind, an AI-powered sports psychology platform, in July. More than 40,000 registrants received a digital mindset coaching program valued at more than A$1,500 per participant.