Former World Record Holder Joyciline Jepkosgei will headline the 23rd edition of the Cardiff Half Marathon on Sunday 4th October. Rome Ostia Half Marathon winner Gideon Kiprotich is the fastest in the men’s field.
The race will host the fourth fixture in the 2026 SuperHalfs Series and holds a World Athletics Elite Road Race Label as well as hosting the Welsh Championships annually.
Joyciline Jepkosgei (64:13) was the first athlete in history to run under 65 minutes for Half marathon and was first to dip under 30 minutes for 10km, setting the world record for that distance at 29:43 at Prague in 2017.
Jepkosgei was the winner of the Virgin Money London Marathon in 2021 and the TCS New York Marathon in 2019. She set her Marathon best at 2:14:00 with victory at Valencia in 2025 and more recently finished third at the TCS London Marathon in April.
Wede Kefale (65:20) of Ethiopia is next fastest and was third at the Copenhagen Half Marathon, boasting a 10km best of 29:55.
Winnie Kimutai (67:03) finished an impressive second at the Antrim Coast Half Marathon last month, setting her P.B and overcoming Kefale on that occasion.
Emebet Kebede (69:01), Tigist Tesema (Debut) and Scarlet Chebet (Debut) of Uganda are the next fastest entrants. Maya Weigel (70:35) will make the trip from the USA to add further international interest.
Natasha Wilson (69:54) will defend her Welsh Title, six weeks after finishing fifth at the Spar European Championship Marathon in Birmingham.
Giovanna Epis (70:15) of Italy, is the top non-British European entrant and is a 3 x National Champion and the winner of the Verona Half Marathon in February.
Northern Ireland 10,000m Champion Emily Haggard-Kearney (70:47) and Maria Wagan (71:59) of Norway will be in action alongside Tracy Barlow (72:14) and 2024 Adidas Manchester Marathon winner, Charlie Arnell (73:30).
Olivia Tsim (73:37) is the next fastest Welsh entrant on P.Bs and is a former Welsh 10km Champion. Kayley Price (84:43) won the recent Kidney Wales CDF 10k and is due to radically revise her best for the distance.
The men’s race will see Gideon Kiprotich (58:49) as the first sub-59-minute performer to line up at the Cardiff Half Marathon. The Kenyan man was the winner of the prestigious Rome Ostia Half Marathon last year.
Course Record holder Yismaw Dillu (59:23) will return to the Capital City. The Ethiopian Athlete was the winner of the Great Ethiopian Run in 2025 and is likely to benefit from kinder weather conditions than he encountered 12 months ago. Both he and Kiprotich could really threaten the course record of 59:23.
Vincent Kipkorir (59:30) won the Total Energies Malaga Half Marathon earlier this year and more recently finished third in Antrim. He will line up alongside Simon Maywa (59:44) whose most notable victory came at the Wizz Air Rome Half Marathon in 2025.
Boniface Mulwa (60:38) will be in action here and is a training partner of Alexander Mutiso who is a previous winner of the TCS London Marathon.
Ugandan duo Dillon Kipyeko (61:09) and Denis Kiplangat (Debut) will be joined on the start line by Jonah Rutio (61:10) of Bahrain and Takato Suzuki (61:45) who will become the latest Japanese Athlete to race in Cardiff.
Latvia’s Arturs Medveds (Debut) is a high-profile debutant and a 4 x National Champion as well as a National Record Holder for the Mile, 3,000m, 5,000m and 10,000m.
Ireland’s Sean Tobin (63:11), Dominik Hirczy (64:30) of the Netherlands and Norway’s Erik Lomas (64:52) are the next fastest non-British European Athletes.
Scottish Cross Country Champion Logan Rees (Debut) is another exciting debutant and is possibly the highest profile British Athlete competing.
Dan Nash is the fastest Welsh entrant on paper, but debutant Lloyd Sheppard-Brown is the recent winner of the Kidney Wales CDF 10k and is looking to challenge for the Welsh Title here.
The race will also welcome its fastest entry to date in the Wheelchair race where 2022 Commonwealth Games Marathon Champion JohnBoy Smith (43:34) will challenge the returning 2025 winner, Callum Hall (46:15). Mel Nicholls (53:39) has triumphed here many times in the past and returns once again in 2026.
