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 Observer reported.
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.”
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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 elite race strategy from sheer instinct, this finish was a pretty good demonstration.
Martin is now the second straight American man to win in Los Angeles, following Matthew 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.
The post AMERICAN COMEBACK! Nathan Martin Chases Down Kenyan Runner in Final Meters to Win Los Angeles Marathon by 0.01 Seconds in Closest Finish in Race History appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.