Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon

The half marathon was not part of that first edition; the 2003 results covered only the marathon, 10km, and wheelchair races [4], and a half marathon field first appears in World Athletics' race reports the following year, in 2004 [5]. The men's course record has stood since 2009, when Moses Kigen ran 2:10:12; the women's record fell in 2023, when Evaline Chirchir clocked 2:24:31 [6]. Both records held through the 2025 edition, where winning times of 2:11:01 and 2:27:17 fell short of each mark [6].

The race grew steadily through the 2000s: over 12,000 took part in 2008, and more than 15,000 ran in 2009 [1]. In 2005, Nairobi became the opening leg of Standard Chartered's 'Greatest Race on Earth' relay series, alongside marathons in Singapore, Mumbai, and Hong Kong, competing for a US$1.57 million prize pool [7]. By 2012, the race attracted over 19,000 runners from more than 70 countries [2]. In 2019, Standard Chartered introduced its Futuremakers programme as the marathon's new global cause, succeeding Seeing is Believing [8].

For years the race ran along Uhuru Highway, Mombasa Road, Forest Road, and finished at Nyayo Stadium [9]. The 2020 edition was cancelled due to COVID-19, and it returned in 2021 in a hybrid format: a physical race capped at 2,500 elite athletes plus a virtual event for 13,500 more, moved to the Southern Bypass and Carnivore Grounds because Uhuru Highway was by then under construction for the Nairobi Expressway [10][9]. The race has run on the Southern Bypass, now finishing at Uhuru Gardens, ever since.

The marathon received World Athletics' accreditation as a World Road Race in 2022, and organisers have since worked with World Athletics and Athletics Kenya toward the higher 'Elite' label [11]. Its 20th edition in October 2023 drew over 22,000 participants, more than 73 elite athletes, 200 athletes with disabilities, and over 20,000 recreational runners across six categories, and Standard Chartered handed over KES 43,167,506 raised from the race to Futuremakers [11].

Its 22nd edition in 2025 drew a record 30,602 participants from 92 to 98 nationalities (sources vary) [12][14], including over 200 elite athletes and 184 athletes with disabilities, up from 146 the year before [12]; registration closed about three weeks before race day amid high demand [3]. Registration for the 2026 edition, also targeting over 30,000 runners, closed in mid-July, more than three months ahead of its October 25 race date, after organisers hit that target early [14]. The 2025 field was nearly double the 17,000-plus registered for the Nairobi City Marathon's Expressway route in 2026 [13]. Standard Chartered says the race and its predecessor cause have together raised roughly KSh 520 million for community programmes over more than two decades [12].