Malaga Marathon set for record-breaking edition as organisers target new course best

Malaga will host its biggest ever marathon this Sunday with organisers confirming a record 22,500 registered runners across the marathon and half marathon (the previous best was 16,000 in 2024), despite rising entry fees, which reached 150 euros for the full distance and 117 for the half.

The race will start at 8.30am from Paseo del Parque with almost 40 elite athletes invited with the aim to improve the course records set in 2021. Mark Korir's men's mark stands at 2:07:39 and Mekonnin Legesse's women's record is 2:24:50. Both came close to being surpassed in 2024.

This year's men's field includes 26 athletes from Kenya, Ethiopia, Morocco, Uganda, the United Kingdom, Sweden and a refugee team. Norway's Zerei Kbrom and Bahrain's Abdi Ali are seen as leading contenders alongside Kenya's Benson Nzioki Mutiso. In the women's race Kenya's Aurelia Jerotich leads the entries ahead of compatriots Dorine Murkomen and Lucy Chelele.