Chepngeno, Ngeno to take on defending champions at Los Angeles Marathon on Women's Day
Reading Time: 3min | Sat. 28.02.26. | 14:40
Past winners and podium finishers will be headlining both the men’s and women’s divisions, with 24 athletes set to compete in the professional fields
Vicoty Chepngeno and Dominic Ngeno headline spectacular fields that include defending champions Tejinesh Tulu and Matt Richtman at the 2026 ASICS Los Angeles Marathon, set for Sunday, 8 March.
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Past winners and podium finishers will be headlining both the men’s and women’s divisions, with 24 athletes set to compete in the professional fields during the marathon’s 41st anniversary event.
Ngeno, the 2024 champion here, carries a 2:06:37 personal best (PB) from his fifth-place finish at the Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris in April last year, which makes him the favourite.
He faces Richtman, who, after becoming the first American man to win the event in more than 30 years, became one of the most recognisable and fastest U.S. marathoners.
His winning time of 2:07:56 was the second fastest time in the history of the marathon on both its previous and current routes.
Just behind Richtman in last year’s event was debutant Athanas Kioko of Kenya, who will also be returning for the 2026 race.
Other notables from the men’s pro field include Abdela Godana of Ethiopia, Michael Kimani Kamau of Kenya and Marcelo Laguera from Mexico.
Toeing the line alongside them is Elkanah Kibet, who placed fourth at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in Orlando, just missing out on earning a spot on the American team.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia’s Tulu is fresh off her fourth-place finish at the 2026 Houston Marathon, where she completed the classic distance in a PB of 2:29:13 and is Chepngeno's biggest threat.
Chepngeno, the fastest woman in the field with a PB of 2:19:55, is the favourite.
She is joined by Atsede Bayisa, a former Boston Marathon champion and two-time Chicago Marathon champion, as well as Kenya’s Antonina Kwambai and American Savannah Berry, who stood beside Tulu on last year’s podium, in second and third, respectively.
On a day marking women’s empowerment and contributions globally, a fitting competitor is American Makenna Myler, who famously ran a 5:25 mile while 9 months pregnant in 2020 and is now a mother of two. Just 10 months postpartum, she placed seventh in the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in a PB of 2:26:14.
WOMEN
🇰🇪 Vicoty Chepngeno, 2:19:55 PB
🇪🇹 Atsede Bayisa, 2:22:03 PB
🇰🇪 Antonina Kwambai, 2:23:20 PB
🇪🇹 Almaz Kemsi, 2:23:30 PB
🇺🇸 Kellyn Taylor, 2:24:29 PB
🇪🇹 Tejinesh Tulu, 2:24:37 PB
🇰🇪 Priscah Jepleting Cherono, 2:25:17 PB
🇺🇸 Makenna Myler, 2:26:14 PB
🇺🇸 Savannah Berry, 2:29:13 PB
🇪🇹 Kolole Mekashu Tefera, 2:29:56 PB
🇪🇹 Alem Nigus Tsadik, Debut (67:33 HM PB)
MEN
🇰🇪 Dominic Ngeno, 2:06:35 PB
🇺🇸 Matthew Richtman, 2:07:57 PB
🇪🇹 Abdela Godana, 2:08:06 PB
🇰🇪 Michael Kimani Kamau, 2:08:19 PB
🇺🇸 Elkanah Kibet, 2:09:07 PB
🇸🇪 David Nillson, 2:10:09 PB
🇪🇷 Tesfu Tewelde, 2:10:21 PB
🇺🇸 Nathan Martin, 2:10:45 PB
🇺🇸 Josh Izewski, 2:10:54 PB
🇪🇹 Tesfamichael Haftom, 2:10:55 PB
🇰🇪 Athanas Kioko, 2:10:56 PB
🇪🇹 Enyew Nigate, 2:11:03 PB