Martin Musau of Uganda won the EDP Lisbon Marathon on Saturday in a personal best of 2:08:07, outrunning a deep field of Kenyan and Ethiopian runners in the Portuguese capital. The result improved on the 2:08:42 he ran in Hamburg in April 2024 by 35 seconds and gave him one of the biggest victories of his career at a World Athletics Label Road Race.
Behind him the race was extraordinarily tight. Gilbert Kiprotich of Kenya was second in 2:08:33, a personal best, and his compatriot Stephen Chebon Kipkech took third in 2:08:35, also a lifetime best. Desalegn Yilie of Ethiopia was fourth in 2:09:08 and Elkanah Langat of Kenya fifth in 2:09:20, with Victor Sawe sixth in 2:10:34. Eleven men failed to finish.
The women's race was even closer at the front. Meskerem Mamo of Ethiopia won her first marathon in 2:28:04, only seven seconds clear of Tejitu Siyum (2:28:11). Bashanke Bilo was third in 2:28:15 and Sintayehu Tilahun fourth in 2:28:19, meaning the first four finished within 15 seconds of one another.
Ethiopia swept the top five places in the women's contest, with Abebech Afework fifth in 2:29:00, and Ruth Chebitok of Kenya was the first non-Ethiopian home in sixth in 2:29:18. Two women, Meseret Hailu and Leonida Mosop, did not finish.
Lisbon sits in a crowded autumn calendar that has already produced Chicago, Melbourne and Cologne, and Musau's performance will strengthen his case for a place in a major-marathon field in 2027. Mamo's debut, meanwhile, marks her out as a runner to follow as she builds towards faster marathons on flatter courses.