Amsterdam Marathon: Kenyan Geofry Kipchumba to defend his 2:03:30 record on October 18
The Amsterdam Marathon kicks off on Sunday, October 18, 2026, at 9:00 a.m., with the start and finish at the Olympic Stadium. According to the final entry lists published on October 14 by Watch Athletics, the top ten favorites, both men and women, are all African athletes from Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Eritrea.
Kipchumba to defend course record
Kenyan Geofry Kipchumba Toroitich returns as the defending champion and course record holder. On October 19, 2025, he won with a time of 2:03:30, shaving nine seconds off the previous benchmark set by Ethiopia's Tamirat Tola, according to World Athletics. Behind him, Ethiopian Tsegaye Getachew took second place in 2:04:18, and his compatriot Getaneh Molla finished third in 2:04:19.
Both men will be back again. Getachew, the winner in Amsterdam in 2022 and 2024, holds a personal best of 2:04:18; however, Kipchumba's most direct rival on paper is Ethiopian Haymanot Alew, credited with 2:03:31, just one second slower. Lemi Berhanu (Ethiopia, 2:04:33) and Ugandan Stephen Kissa (2:04:48) round out the top of the list. Kenyan Isaia Lasoi will be making his debut at the distance after clocking 58:10 in the half-marathon.
A women's field dominated by the Horn of Africa
In the women's race, Ethiopian Aynalem Desta is also defending her title. She won last year in 2:17:37, improving her personal best by more than four minutes, leading an all-Ethiopian podium ahead of Bertukan Welde (2:17:56) and Mekides Shimeles (2:19:56). The course record of 2:16:52 has belonged to her compatriot Yalemzerf Yehualaw since 2024; Desta finished less than 45 seconds off that mark.
Facing her will be Meseret Belete (2:18:21), the 2023 winner, Mestawut Fikir (2:18:48), and Buze Diriba (2:19:34), forming a formidable Ethiopian trio. Eritrean Nazret Weldu, with a time of 2:20:29, will represent a country of fewer than four million people that continues to produce world-class runners.
Amsterdam is not part of the World Marathon Majors, but its flat and fast course has made it one of the events where records are broken. For years, athletes from the Kenyan Rift Valley and the Ethiopian highlands have dominated the race, and the Dutch organizers openly acknowledge this by building their field around them.
This article was written in French with the help of artificial intelligence from the sources cited below, then translated from French automatically. Read the original.
