A Substitute Teacher and a 45-Year-Old Mom Just Won the LA Marathon
The 2026 Los Angeles Marathon was supposed to be a straightforward race. It was anything but. When the dust settled on Sunday, a high school substitute teacher from Michigan and a 45-year-old Kenyan mother of three stood at the top of the podium. Two of the most unlikely champions in the race's 41-year history.
Nathan Martin: The Coach Who Outran Everyone
Nathan Martin, 36, is a substitute teacher and cross-country coach at Jackson High School in Michigan. He is not sponsored by a major shoe brand. He does not have a professional training group. He picks up shifts at a high school to pay the bills between races.
None of that mattered on Sunday.
Martin entered the race as a relative unknown to casual fans, but he's no beginner. He's a three-time U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier and holds the record as the fastest U.S.-born Black marathoner, with a 2:10:45 personal best set at the 2023 Grandma's Marathon.
Still, he wasn't the favorite. Kenya's Michael Kimani Kamau held the lead for most of the race and looked like the winner heading into the final stretch. Then everything changed.
The Closest Finish in LA Marathon History
With 300 meters to go, Kamau briefly followed the race motorcade off the marked path, ducking behind a spectator waving a Kenyan flag before jumping back on course. The detour lasted roughly five seconds, an eternity in a race decided by hundredths.
Martin, running from way back, was closing fast. At the finish line, Kamau collapsed and dove forward as Martin surged past. The official time difference: 0.01 seconds. Martin crossed in 2:11:16.50. Kamau was taken away on a stretcher after reportedly skipping fluids throughout the race.
It was the closest finish in LA Marathon history, shattering the previous record of 0.07 seconds set in 2019. Martin became the first African-American man to win the race in its 41 years.
Priscah Cherono: The Mom Who Beat Everybody
If Martin's win was dramatic, Cherono's was dominant.
Priscah Cherono is 45 years old. She is a mother of three. This was her second professional marathon. Ever.
She led from Mile 1 to Mile 26.2. Nobody challenged her. She crossed the finish line in 2:25:18.31, more than two minutes ahead of American Kellyn Taylor in second.
But here's the part that makes it truly remarkable: the LA Marathon uses a "Marathon Chase" format where elite women start 15 minutes and 45 seconds ahead of the elite men. The first person to physically cross the finish line, regardless of gender, wins a $10,000 bonus.
Cherono won it. She crossed the line before any of the men, including Martin, despite them chasing her with nearly a 16-minute head start. A 45-year-old woman in her second marathon outran every man on the course to the tape.
From the Olympics to Motherhood to the Marathon
Cherono is not a complete unknown in the running world. She represented Kenya in the 5,000 meters at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. But that was 18 years ago. She stepped away from competitive running, had three children and only recently shifted to the marathon distance at age 45.
Most elite marathoners peak in their late 20s or early 30s. Cherono is rewriting that timeline entirely.
What This Means for the Sport
Both victories share a common thread: these are people who refused to fit the mold of what a marathon champion is supposed to look like.
Martin is a public school teacher who coaches teenagers during the week and races on weekends. Cherono is a 45-year-old mother who came out of an 18-year competitive hiatus to dominate a major marathon.
In a sport increasingly defined by super shoes, altitude camps and six-figure sponsorship deals, the 2026 LA Marathon was a reminder that the marathon doesn't care about your resume. It only cares about who crosses the line first.
And on Sunday in Los Angeles, it was a substitute teacher from Jackson, Michigan, and a mom from Kenya.