Sub-2:04 broken 23 times in 2026, adidas in 15 of them

The sub-2:04 marathon barrier has been broken a record 23 times in 2026, and athletes in adidas account for 15 of them. That is from LetsRun's Week That Was column, which also notes the 23 is more than double the previous record for a single year.

Twenty three sub-2:04s in one season is the headline number. Until this year, no season had come close to half of it. The marathon has been getting faster for a decade, but a jump of that size inside twelve months is not a trend line, it is a step.

The adidas share is the real story

Fifteen of 23 is roughly two thirds of the fastest marathons run all year, from one brand. Plenty of those runs come from athletes you would expect to be fast regardless of what is on their feet, and LetsRun's piece does not claim the shoes alone did it. But a split that lopsided in a sport where Nike spent years owning the super shoe conversation is worth noticing on its own.

What it actually means is simpler than the arms race framing. One brand has signed a lot of the right marathoners and put them in a race-day shoe that is working, and the men's marathon has moved to a point where a 2:03 is now a repeat occurrence rather than a once-a-season event.

Also in the column

The same LetsRun piece asks whether the courts could decide the NCAA cross country title, picking up the BYU story that has run alongside the fall racing season. It also makes the case for an Athing Mu-Nikolaev comeback ahead of LA 2028, with Rojo arguing the doubters have it wrong.

For marathon readers, the number to keep is 23. If it holds up, 2026 goes down as the year sub-2:04 stopped being a barrier and started being a bar.