The week in world running, straight from the paddock (to Fri 30 Oct 2026)

Published as a weekly round-up for the week ending Fri 30 Oct 2026. The New York preview is kept as it stood before race day.

1. DINKI NICKS FRANKFURT AFTER PETROS GETS CUT UP BY A BIKE

Home favourite leads late, has a run-in with a food courier, and has to settle for second

Amanal Petros was the home hope going in, and for a while it looked like he’d deliver. Wet, windy conditions in Frankfurt on Sunday killed off any German record talk early (63:01 at halfway), but Petros was in front late on when he got tangled up with a bike courier sitting on the racing line. German TV reckon that knocked him out of his rhythm, and Ethiopia’s Jirata Dinki came past to win in 2:05:26. Petros still ran 2:05:46, the first German on the men’s podium in over 25 years. Benard Biwott was third in 2:06:23, with Richard Ringer fifth (2:07:07) and Samuel Fitwi seventh (2:08:57).

The women’s race was all about a debutant. Zeineba Yimer led from the gun and won in 2:19:45, but 24-year-old Blanka Dörfel ran 2:20:46 in her first marathon, the second fastest ever by a German woman. She ran it without a watch. Going purely on feel and coming home in 2:20 in the rain, that’s some first outing. A record 19,720 entered, and a few of ours were among them (see Hoofprints).

Sources: Frankfurt Marathon · World Athletics results · ZDF

2. FIFTY AND STILL GALLOPING

Mark Kiptoo runs 2:15:24 in Frankfurt and takes four minutes off a 35-year-old record

Further back in the same race, the run of the day for anyone over 40 reading this. Kenya’s Mark Kiptoo, who turned 50 in June, ran 2:15:24 for 13th overall. That’s 5:10 a mile in the rain and wind, and it’s 4:05 inside the M50 world best of 2:19:29 that South Africa’s Titus Mamabolo set in Durban back in 1991.

He’s no stranger to the place either, having won Frankfurt back in 2014. Earlier this month he ran 1:03:57 for the half in San Sebastián, another M50 best. World Masters Athletics still has to ratify the marathon, but nobody’s arguing with it. Old horse, new tricks.

Sources: Runner’s World · Canadian Running

3. TWO RECORDS IN VALENCIA, AND NEITHER COUNTS

Kwizera goes 58:03, Abdalla 59:12, and the rule book says no to both

Valencia did Valencia things on Sunday. Rodrigue Kwizera won the half in 58:03, three seconds quicker than Andreas Almgren’s European record of 58:06. Kwizera only became a Spanish citizen over the summer, so he now holds the Spanish record but World Athletics won’t count it as a European one. Thierry Ndikumwenayo was six seconds back in 58:09 and Victor Kipruto third in 58:12.

The other oddity was in eighth. Yaseen Abdalla, born and raised in the US, ran 59:12, five seconds faster than Conner Mantz’s American record. Except he races for Sudan, so it isn’t an American record either. In the women’s race Sheila Chepkirui ran a world-leading 63:51 to hold off Diana Wanza by a single second. One of ours ran a big PB in that field too (see Hoofprints).

Sources: World Athletics results · Canadian Running

4. LESA WINS A WINDY DUBLIN

Record numbers on the streets, Armstrong and Storm take the Irish titles

Over 19,100 started the 45th Dublin Marathon on Sunday and the wind didn’t let up all day. Ethiopia’s Abay Alemu Lesa, the youngest in the international men’s field at 22, won it in 2:10:28, eight seconds clear of Sweden’s Ebba Chala. Zenebu Fikdau Jebesa led an all-Ethiopian women’s podium in 2:24:26, a 17-second PB and only just shy of the course record.

The national titles went to Hugh Armstrong of Ballina AC in 2:14:51 and Judith Storm of City of Derry Spartans in 2:35:46, 12 minutes quicker than she ran in Dublin last year. Killian Mooney ran a PB of 2:15:44 for second Irish man, and Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill pushed Storm all the way in 2:35:58. Patrick Monahan won the wheelchair race for the ninth time, and €5.6m went to charity. We had a couple of runners out there grinding through it (see Hoofprints).

Sources: Dublin Marathon · RTÉ

5. JEPCHIRCHIR PROVISIONALLY SUSPENDED FOR EPO

Olympic and world champion’s sample from before her Sydney win comes back positive

Another big one. The Athletics Integrity Unit announced last Friday that Peres Jepchirchir, the reigning world champion and 2021 Olympic champion, has been provisionally suspended after an out-of-competition sample collected in Kenya before her Sydney Marathon win in August came back positive for EPO. She won Sydney in 2:18:31.

It’s a provisional suspension, so the case still has to go through the full process and there’s no final ruling yet. Her agent told Reuters he “feels terrible”. If a ban of three months or more follows, Marathon Majors rules mean she’d be barred from their races for life. Coming a week after Ruti Aga's six-year ban (covered in Issue #3), it's been a grim fortnight for the sport.

Sources: AP · The Guardian · Runner’s World

6. RIP GAGS

Coaching legend Frank Gagliano dies at 89

A proper loss for anyone who cares about coaching. Frank “Gags” Gagliano coached for more than 60 years at Manhattan, Rutgers and Georgetown and then with pro groups including the Nike Farm Team, Oregon Track Club and the New Jersey-New York Track Club. Runner’s World credits him with more than 40 sub-4 milers and 15 Olympians.

He was behind the famous Oregon “sweep” at the 2008 US Olympic Trials and coached Nick Symmonds among plenty of others. The tributes from his old athletes this week, Kyle Merber’s in CITIUS Mag among them, are well worth a read.

Sources: Runner’s World · Georgetown · CITIUS Mag

7. UNDER STARTER’S ORDERS IN NEW YORK

Kipruto and Obiri defend on Sunday, and a former 800m man makes his debut

Sunday 1 Nov, five boroughs, and the men’s race looks wide open. Benson Kipruto is back to defend, but the one everyone’s talking about is Andreas Almgren. The Swede was a 1:45 800m runner, is the world half marathon champion, ran that 58:06 European record, and now he’s stepping up to the marathon for the first time. Zouhair Talbi, Abdi Nageeye and Geoffrey Kamworor are in there too, and Conner Mantz leads the Americans.

In the women’s race Hellen Obiri goes for a third New York title (she holds the course record of 2:19:51), with Sheila Chepkirui, Gotytom Gebreslase and Edna Kiplagat the main threats. Sifan Hassan has pulled out. A few of ours are on the start line too, so we’ll be shouting at the tracker. Good luck, all.

Sources: World Athletics preview · World Marathon Majors