Eliud Kipchoge, the most decorated marathon runner in history, has chosen the 2026 Nike Melbourne Marathon Festival as the third stop on his global world tour. On Sunday 11 October 2026 he toes the start line alongside tens of thousands of runners, races through the city streets and finishes inside the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The event is expecting 66,000 participants across the weekend, the largest festival the organisers have ever delivered.
One thing to set out early: this piece covers what is confirmed about the race, the rebuilt course and where entries stand, and it does not speculate about what Kipchoge's presence does to the course record or to anyone's time on the day.
Stop three on a seven-continent tour
Kipchoge is midway through a mission to race across all seven continents over the next two years. The tour opened in Africa at the Cape Town Marathon on May 24, where he finished 16th in 2:13:29. Stop two took him to South America for the Porto Alegre Marathon in Brazil, where he placed 12th in 2:18:39. Melbourne is the third stop, and he told race organisers he is coming back because he saw "Australia is a real outdoor country with a big love for sports".
The resume behind the visit: Olympic titles in Rio 2016 in 2:08:44 and Tokyo 2020 in 2:08:38, and 11 victories in the Abbott World Marathon Majors, five of them in Berlin and four in London. He also rewrote the world record twice in the German capital, running 2:01:39 in 2018 and 2:01:09 in 2022. That record has since moved on, first to the late Kelvin Kiptum's 2:00:35 in Chicago in 2023, then to Sebastian Sawe's 1:59:40 at the 2026 London Marathon, the first time the two-hour barrier has been officially broken. Kipchoge still holds the distinction of being the first man to cover the distance in under two hours, his 1:59:40 at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna, run in unofficial conditions. Melbourne will be his second appearance on Australian roads after his Sydney Marathon debut last year, where he finished ninth in 2:08:30.
The 2026 race, rebuilt
The festival enters 2026 as its most significant transformation in two decades: redesigned courses with up to 20% less elevation and 30% fewer turns, improved amenities and spectator flow, and an expanded festival across two full days. Distances run from 5km and 10km up to the half marathon and the full 42.2km.
The marathon course starts on Batman Avenue and follows mostly flat, sealed roads designed for consistent pacing before a finishing lap on the MCG turf. RunCalendar calls it the city's flagship 42.2km and a bucket-list race for many Australian runners. For a full breakdown of the course, including hills, turns and where to save your legs, see our Melbourne Marathon 2026 course guide.
Where entries stand
The Nike Melbourne Marathon and the Nike Half Marathon are sold out. What is still open:
- The SriLankan Airlines 10km, the Dairy Farmers 5km, the Chobani 3km and the Bupa Healthy Cities Mini Marathon, all in the same city, on the same weekend, with the same finish line.
- Entry through one of the event's charity partners, a travel package, or one of the final affiliate allocations, pathways the organisers describe as incredibly limited.
The PACESETTERS packages that paired a seat at the Friday night event with an entry into the sold-out marathon or half marathon are sold out as well. The General Reserved Seating option with Nike Melbourne Marathon entry was listed at $327. See our Melbourne Marathon expo, bib pickup and start line guide for everything you need race week.
PACESETTERS, the night before
On Friday 9 October, the eve of the festival, the event hosts PACESETTERS at the Pullman East Melbourne: an evening of stories and conversation hosted by broadcaster Bruce McAvaney, with Kipchoge as Guest of Honour. Doors open from 6:30pm and the program starts at 7:00pm. Auction items and raffle prizes through the night support the Eliud Kipchoge Foundation. It is officially sold out.
Running it for a cause
Runners can fundraise for the Black Dog Institute over any of the festival distances, 5km, 10km, 21.1km or 42.2km, and the event counts more than $2.7 million raised for charity in 2026 so far. Beyond Blue is recruiting 30 volunteers to run a drink station at the Brighton Baths, with a donation made to Beyond Blue for each volunteer on course. Volunteers register their interest by Friday 25 September 2026 and need a Working with Children Check; the role comes with a Nike volunteer t-shirt, a snack pack and water, and a position on course supporting thousands of runners.
On the start line
The organisers put it plainly to the 20,000 runners in the marathon field: you run the same course, on the same morning, as the greatest marathon runner who has ever lived, and you share that MCG finish with him. The half marathon now runs in the reverse direction, so half marathoners watch the marathon's conclusion before their own start and can fill the stadium stands to cheer. Every other distance shares the same city, the same weekend and the same finish line.
Race-day eyewear for an October morning
An October morning in Melbourne asks one thing of your eyewear: handle the low light at the start and the bright sun by midday without a swap. We build running sunglasses, so here is how the range maps onto that day.
- Early starts: the Adaptor Clear lens goes fully transparent at VLT 83% in low light, and it is only available on Re.glide and Re.silience.
- One lens all day: the Infinity lens is photochromic, polarised, anti-fog and UV400 in one, built to run from a 5am start to midday sun.
- Bright, exposed stretches: Re.silience carries the widest lens profile of any Re. frame and the darkest Protector lens in the range at VLT 11%, in a 24g frame.
- Light all-rounder: Re.balance is the lightest frame in the lineup at 20g, with the Protector lens at VLT 17%.
- Hard efforts: Re.glide sits at 27g with ventilation around the lenses and temples to keep fog at bay when the pace climbs.
Every pair in the range is UV400 and built without bounce. If you run in prescription, all four frames can be fitted with a custom insert made to your prescription by our local Sydney lens technician. And because they are made to be run in, you get 30 days to take them for an actual run and change your mind, with free global shipping over $150.
Tim Golubev
Founder, Re. (Re Your Run)
Tim built Re. after years of running in sunglasses that bounced, fogged, and ended up on his forehead. After discovering the UV damage that builds up without eye protection (even on cloudy days) and hearing the same frustrations from hundreds of other runners, he decided it was a problem worth fixing properly. With a background in Product across multiple industries, he approached it like any product problem: figure out what's broken, then build something that actually fixes it. He runs daily, co-founded Rose Bay Run Club, and Re. is his attempt to make one less thing that gets in the way of a good run.
