Course & Elevation
The Nike Melbourne Marathon is the main race of the Melbourne Marathon Festival, held on a Sunday in October since 1978. The 2026 festival, the 48th edition, had a 10 km, a 5 km, a 3 km and a 1 km mini marathon on the Saturday, and the marathon, a wheelchair marathon and a half marathon on the Sunday. In 2026 the 42.195 km course ran down St Kilda Road, past Flinders Street Station and around Albert Park Lake, with part of it on the Albert Park Formula One circuit, before finishing inside the Melbourne Cricket Ground. More than 20,000 runners took part across the festival that year. Eliud Kipchoge won the 2026 men's marathon in 2:09:10, a course record, and New Zealand's Camille French won the women's race in 2:28:25. The women's course record is 2:25:19, set by Sinead Diver in 2018.
Course Facts
Weather
Typical climate for the race month — an estimate, not a forecast or a race-day record
15°C
Temperature
65%
Humidity
25%
Rain Chance
October in Melbourne is mild spring weather: highs average about 20°C and lows about 10°C, with around 55 mm of rain over the month.
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