Melbourne Marathon LIVE: Legendary Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and women’s record holder Sinead Diver lead elite race day field

Even our best runners ‘get the ick’ from doing hill reps.

Diver, the course record holder at Melbourne, said during an interview before the race that she had prepared for today by doing high mileage, starting around three months out from the race.

But there was one part of training she wasn’t upset about doing away with, after changes to the Melbourne Marathon course to make it flatter.

“I’m glad this year there aren’t that many hills - actually there’s hardly any – so I haven’t had to do that in training which is great, because I’m not a big fan of hills,” she said, chuckling.

We’re halfway through the men’s marathon, and they’re absolutely flying.

We’re down to three: Eliud Kipchoge, James Whelan, and Thomas Do Canto – who is starting to slip back a little.

Through the 21.1km mark, the clock read 1:04:17.

Earlier on the Melbourne Marathon broadcast, we heard from Australian marathon legend Steve Moneghetti, talking about the ‘Eliud Kipchoge’ effect around the city this week.

Kipchoge is undeniably one of the greatest runners of all time. He’s in Melbourne to run the Oceania leg of his challenge to run a marathon in each of the seven continents, pushing a message of sustainability and education.

This is Kipchoge’s first time running the Melbourne Marathon and is his third stop on his world tour.

He is planting trees wherever he goes – 5000 in Australia with Landcare – and raising money to build libraries in Kenya and across Africa to help with children’s education

“He’s been so giving of his time,” Moneghetti said of Kipchoge. “He can run fast, but now he’s making a difference in so many other ways.… he’s just raised the interest level.”

We’re just over 10 kilometres into the race, so let’s check out what is happening in the men’s lead pack.

At the front of the men’s race, we can see a group of five has formed – Australians Reece Edwards, James Whelan, Thomas Do Canto and pacer Alex Harvey, as well as the big drawcard for running fanatics – Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge.

In perfect still conditions, on a course deliberately chosen to be flat and fast for the world’s greatest marathon runner, the man who set two world records and won two Olympic golds, Kipchoge has got off to a strong start getting through 10km in 30:37.

At the front of the women’s race was Australian Sinead Diver and New Zealand’s Camille French, both through 10km in 34:01. They’re well under course record right now. The chase pack includes Australians Rebecca Lowe and Abigail Nordberg, and Ireland’s Nichola Sheridan.

The starter gun has just gone off and the runners taking on the 42.2km distance are on their way.

We’ll expect the race leaders to be crossing the finish line in just over two hours.

This year represents the 48th edition of the Melbourne Marathon. The tradition started in 1978 with about 2,000 runners taking on a course that began in Frankston and finished outside Melbourne Town Hall.

The event has only grown since then – around 66,000 runners, walkers and rollers are taking to the streets and taking part in the events across the weekend. More than 16,000 additional participant spots were added this year alone!

The only year the marathon wasn’t run in person was 2020, where it went virtual due to COVID restrictions.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us as we capture the action at the Melbourne Marathon.

The 2026 event has shifted to a two-day festival, so only the marathon and half marathon races are taking place today:

6:15am: Nike Melbourne Marathon begins

9:45am: Nike Half Marathon begins

The marathon course has also changed, with a flatter and likely faster route. When compared to last year, there will be fewer turns, about 20 per cent less elevation gain and the course also avoids a hill at the 36 kilometre mark.

Between the marathon’s start on Batman Avenue and the iconic MCG finish, about 20,000 runners will take on the 42 kilometres and walk away with a finishers medal. An expected 66,000 participants will take part across the weekend events.

Perfect conditions on the start line right now, with a temperature of 15 degrees. It will heat up on course later today, with a sunny top of 25 degrees forecast. Good luck to everyone toeing the start line today!