In a breathtaking finish, American marathoner Nathan Martin delivered a dramatic last-minute surge to win the 2026 Los Angeles Marathon, beating Kenya’s Michael Kimani Kamau by an astonishing 0.01 seconds, the closest finish in the race’s 41-year history.
The 36-year-old American runner staged an incredible comeback in the final miles of the 26.2-mile race, chasing down Kamau after the Kenyan had led much of the closing stretch.
Martin crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 16.50 seconds, edging Kamau by a fraction of a second in a photo finish that left spectators stunned,Santa Monica Observerreported.
For much of the race, Kamau appeared poised to take the title. But Martin refused to give up.
“In any race, I just want to give 100%,” said Martin, 36. “I saw an opportunity to race at the end and give one last push. All I wanted to do is push myself.”
Martin didn’t make his move until mile 21 — which is either brilliant strategy or the kind of thing that looks brilliant only when it works.
“I made an actual move five miles out when I saw no one else was picking up the pace. I decided I needed to push,” he said. “At a mile and a half to go, I could see the leader and with 800 meters to go, I was thinking, ‘I’m catching him.’”
His personal best of 2:10:45 came at the 2023 Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota. Sunday’s 2:11:16 wasn’t a PR, but it was something arguably better — a race win decided by less time than it takes to tie a shoelace. If you’ve ever wondered what separates eliterace strategyfrom sheer instinct, this finish was a pretty good demonstration.
Martin is now the second straight American man to win in Los Angeles, followingMatthew Richtman, who ran 2:07:56 in 2025— the fastest time ever on the current Stadium to the Stars course. Before Richtman, no American man had won the race since 1994.
On the women’s side, 45-year-old Kenyan Priscah Cherono dominated with a time of 2:25:20, leading wire-to-wire in a runaway victory.
Source: The Gateway Pundit
