Eliud Kipchoge has chosen the next marathon of his seven continent world tour with the Nike Melbourne Marathon Festival, his third announcement in a week.
On Thursday, Kipchoge said he will return to Australia just months after running the Sydney Marathon with the weekend of races on October 10 and 11 serving as his Oceania stop. The event schedule features a 10k race, half marathon and marathon with a record 66,000 participants expected across all three events.
“Running brings people together across all borders,” Kipchoge said. “I am excited to return to Australia and experience the energy of the Nike Melbourne Marathon Festival. The Australian running community is booming and the passion I experienced here before will stay with me for a lifetime. I saw that Australia is a real outdoor country with a big love for sports. That is why I can’t wait to come back, experience a new part of this great country and run together with the people of Melbourne and all of Oceania.”
Kipchoge finished ninth in 2:08:31 at the 2025 Sydney Marathon, his first time racing in Australia, which was also his sixth Abbott Marathon Major event. Last November he ran the New York City Marathon and completed all seven current majors.
“Having Eliud Kipchoge join us at the Nike Melbourne Marathon Festival is a landmark moment – not just for our event, but for the entire Australian running community,” Marcus Gale, event director of the Nike Melbourne Marathon Festival said. “Eliud is the greatest marathon runner of all time, and his decision to make Melbourne the official Oceania stop of his world tour is a testament to the strength and passion of our runners and the world-class experience we’ve built here. We can’t wait to welcome him to the MCG finish line, and to share that moment with the tens of thousands of runners and spectators who make this event so special.”
Shortly after completing New York, Kipchoge signaled that he would take a step back from competitive racing and unveiled his Eliud’s Running World tour of marathons to connect with the running community.
On Monday he chose the Cape Town Marathon on May 24 as the first race in the series and his first marathon in Africa. The Porto Alegre Marathon on July 12 was announced on Wednesday as the second event and will mark Kipchoge’s return to Brazil where he won Olympic gold in the 2016 Rio Games.
