Cali Marathon in Colombia on Sunday: Tough challenge for defending champions Mayaka and Ndiwa

“Run in Heaven’s Capital,” this is the motto for the second edition of the Cali Marathon on Sunday. Organizers of the race located in southwestern Colombia intend to build on the success of last year’s inaugural event and move it further up in the rankings. Their future quest is to make it a major international marathon. They have assembled another very strong elite field, which is led by Kenya’s Ronald Korir and Nazret Weldu of Eritrea, who have personal bests of 2:04:22 and 2:20:29, respectively.

Defending champions Evans Mayaka and Emmah Ndiwa of Kenya have returned, but face a tough task in their quest to cross the line first once more. No other marathon in South America has deeper fields than Cali.

While record times will be targeted once more on Sunday, the entry figures are up tremendously: A total of 20,000 athletes from 49 nations registered for the event, which is an Elite Label Road Race of World Athletics. This includes races at shorter distances. Last year organisers registered 11,000 entries. “We are really happy with the way the Cali Marathon developed within just a year. We do not plan to increase the overall number of runners much. But we want to have more marathon runners in the future. This year, 3,000 athletes compete over the classic distance,” said Race Director Luis Felipe Posso. Abel Anton, the Spanish two-time World Marathon Champion from 1997 and 1999, who is invited as a guest of honour, said: “I can’t believe that this race has developed so strongly in such a short time.”

With an altitude of around 1,000 m and humid conditions as well as relatively warm temperatures of around 20 Celsius, Cali is unlikely to see fast times. However, such conditions often produce dramatic races, as happened last year, when the men’s winner came from behind in the final stages. Kenyans Evans Mayaka and Emmah Ndiwa both produced Colombian allcomers’ records of 2:11:04 and 2:29:26, respectively a year ago. “It is our aim to break these records again on Sunday,” said Luis Felipe Posso, who hopes to see a first sub-2:10 time on Colombian soil.

The men’s race has a very good depth with five athletes featuring personal bests of sub 2:06. Another three are on the start list who have run under 2:10. Evans Mayaka is only ninth on the list with his PB of 2:10:00, but the 38-year-old was in a similar position last year and defied the odds. 

Ronald Korir, who is the fastest entrant with his 2:04:44 PB, ran this time when he was fourth in Berlin three years ago. In 2024, he produced another fine performance in Germany, taking fourth place in Hamburg with 2:05:41. “It has been a difficult time for me these past two years with different injury problems. Training for Cali went well, so I hope that I might win on Sunday,” said Ronald Korir, who was unable to finish a marathon in 2025.

In contrast, fellow Kenyan Ezra Tanui has shown great form in his recent races. In 2025, he won all three of the marathons, taking Doha plus Chinese races JiLin and Yellow River. The 28-year-old has continued strongly early this year, when he was third in Osaka with a 2:05:55 PB. “I am confident about my chances on Sunday. My personal best came two months ago in Osaka, and since then, my training has gone well. I am not looking for a particular time, but I trust in my ability to finish strongly,” said Ezra Tanui.

Abel Kirui, Kenya’s double World Marathon Champion from 2009 and 2011, will run his farewell race as a professional athlete. The 44-year-old, who won the Olympic silver medal in 2012, ran his PB of 2:05:04 in 2009.

In the women’s race, Fatima Gardadi is among the favourites. The Moroccan may only be number five on the start list with a PB of 2:24:06, but a race like Cali could suit her. The 34-year-old has done very well in warm weather, taking a surprising bronze medal at the World Championships in Budapest in 2023 and placing tenth in the Olympic marathon in Paris a year later. 

Nazret Weldu of Eritrea is another athlete who has done very well at the World Championships. The 35-year-old was fourth in Eugene in 2022, running her PB and a national record of 2:20:29. In 2024, she was the winner of the Vienna City Marathon. “Sunday will be my first race since my daughter Annalisa was born in May last year. I am not looking to run any particular time, but I do want to be competitive, and I hope that my strength allows me to do well in the race,” said Nazret Weldu.

Stacy Ndiwa is expected to do well. The Kenyan is the 2024 winner of the Los Angeles Marathon and ran her PB of 2:23:29 a year ago in Boston, where she finished ninth. She is not related to the defending champion Emmah Ndiwa. The 30-year-old, who has a personal record of 2:25:15, produced a dominant performance last year, when she won the Cali Marathon with 2:29:26. With her 2:25:15 PB, she is, however, not among the seven women on the start list who have run sub 2:25:00.

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