The Course: A Midnight Start, the CCLEX and a Tunnel
The race starts and finishes at the SM Seaside City grounds [1]. In 2026 the mayor started the marathon at 12 midnight, and its route ran through the Cebu South Coastal Road tunnel, past the Provincial Capitol and Fuente Osmeña Circle, and over the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) [2]. The organisers had promised all 8.9 km of the CCLEX, and the return of the coastal-road tunnel, which was used for the first marathon in 2010 [3]. The half marathon also crosses the CCLEX [4].
The organiser calls the CCLEX the longest and tallest bridge in the Philippines, and says it gives 42 km and 21 km runners views of the Mactan Channel as the sun rises [5]. 2026 was the first year the course was AIMS-certified, so times run there can be used to qualify for other marathons [2].
The 2026 route map is no longer posted. The 2027 map shows U-turns on the coastal road at Periko Road, in front of the SSS Building and at the far end of the CCLEX, and four timed checkpoints on the bridge: the on-ramp at 24 km by 4.34am, 27 km by 5.05am, 30 km by 5.43am and 33 km by 6.17am. Runners who miss one are put on a bus back to SM Seaside City and do not get a medal [6].
The Weather: Warm, Humid and Still All Night
Mactan-Cebu International Airport, about 11 km east of the start across the Mactan Channel, recorded 25°C at midnight on race night, with a dew point of 23°C, 89% humidity and a 1-knot wind [7]. It did not change for seven hours: every reading from midnight to 7am was 25°C and 89%, with wind of 1 or 2 knots. At 8am, when the marathon closed, it was 27°C and 84%, and 28°C at 9am [7].
A dew point of 23°C means sweat evaporates slowly, and with no wind there is nothing to help it. The midnight start keeps runners out of the sun, but it does not make the air dry. The median marathoner finished at about 5.45am, so most of the field ran the whole race in 25°C air [8][7]. Pace for the humidity, not for the city roads.
Aid, Cut-offs and What Finishers Got
The 2026 cut-offs were generous: eight hours for the marathon, four and a half for the half marathon, two and a half for the 10 km and an hour and a half for the 5 km [1]. The results list 26 marathoners who finished after eight hours, the slowest in 8:54:18, and 47 half marathoners who finished after 4:30 [8]. A columnist who ran the half wrote that everyone who waited in the medal queue got a medal, whatever their time [9].
In 2025 the race had 20 hydration stations [10]. For 2026 every runner was given a reusable collapsible cup to carry, though paper cups were still available [11]. SunStar reported that some runners praised better hydration stations and the police presence along the route [2].
Marathon and half-marathon finishers were due a medal and a towel; 10 km and 5 km runners got a souvenir shirt instead of a medal [1][3]. The post-race meal for the 42 km and 21 km was a Chickenjoy fast-food meal, but when that ran out many runners got a pack of boiled eggs, longganisa, puso and banana instead [2]. In 2025 there had been only bread and bananas [12].
What Went Wrong: No Medals at the Finish
There were no medals at the finish line. The organisers said the shipment did not reach the venue until 6.51am, and handing out did not begin until nearly 7am [13]. By then marathoners who finished at three, four or five in the morning had been waiting for hours [4]. The columnist Melanie T. Lim finished the half before 6am, found no staff and no medals, and heard from another runner that they would come at seven [4]. There was no signage and no announcement [9]. Lim quoted an American runner who complained that there were no instructions on where to queue and no ropes to organise the queues [4].
Some marathoners went home to rest and came back to find the organisers had packed up and left [9]. An Austrian runner complained of flying across two continents only to go home without a medal, and runners booed the organisers at the post-race programme [2].
The organising committee apologised the next day. It said its medal supplier since 2011, Suarez Arts, had failed to deliver on time; a last-minute release from Customs at the Port of Manila allowed an attempt to fly the medals to Cebu, but offloading and transport delays held them up. Because it was not certain they would arrive, it made no announcement on site. Runners without a medal were asked to contact the organisers to arrange delivery [13]. Almost four weeks later, Lim wrote that some runners had reportedly still not received theirs [14].
It was the second year running. In 2025, medal distribution was so poorly managed that runners scrambled for them [15]. The race itself drew fewer complaints: one marathoner who set a personal best said it ran smoothly apart from the medals, and better than the year before thanks to the police on the route, but would not commit to coming back [2][12].
How Fast the Field Is
Kenya's Eric Chepsiror won the marathon in 2:30:53, after missing 2025 with an ankle injury, ahead of the 2025 champion Florendo Lapiz in 2:32:46 and Kenya's Luka Lagat in 2:32:53 [8][16]. The SEA Games medallist Artjoy Torregosa won the women's race in 2:53:17, twenty minutes clear of Lizane Abella (3:13:33) and April Joy Alampayan (3:16:06) [8][16].
Behind the front the field is mostly recreational. The tenth man ran 2:54:09, only 13 runners broke three hours, and nine women broke 3:32. Of the 3,472 finishers, 213 ran under four hours, and the median time was 5:45:06 [8]. The half marathon was won in 1:09:00 by Kenya's Daniel Boiwo and in 1:25:47 by Michelle Zamora; tenth place was 1:14:50 for men and 1:47:35 for women, and the median 3:09:36 [2][8][16].
Cash prizes went five deep in every race in 2026, with P40,000 for the marathon winners [1]. Fifth place was 2:37:33 for men and 3:20:31 for women [8], so a strong club runner can realistically aim for prize money.
Race Weekend Logistics
All race kits were collected at a three-day expo from Thursday 8 to Saturday 10 January [1]. The field was international: Japan sent the most foreign entrants (97), then the United States (64) and South Korea (59) [1]. The half marathon was the biggest race, with 5,428 entrants, against 3,732 for the marathon [1].
Early-bird fees for 2026 were P2,499 for the marathon, P2,299 for the half and P999 for the 10 km and 5 km [3]. The organiser holds the race on the second Sunday of January and times it to fall in the Sinulog festival season [5].
Should You Enter the 2027 Race?
Yes, if you want an AIMS-certified marathon with an unusual course, a midnight start that keeps you out of the sun, an eight-hour limit that suits walkers, and prize money within reach of a man who can run about 2:37 or a woman who can run about 3:20.
Think twice if a smooth finish-line experience matters to you: medals went wrong in both 2025 and 2026. Also think twice if you cannot race well in 25°C air at 89% humidity after a night without sleep.
The 2027 race is on Sunday 10 January under a new organiser, DJT Events, working with the Cebu City Sports Commission; the club that ran 2026 is now only a consultant [15]. The organiser says medals and finisher shirts will be handed out at the finish line, with water every 2.5 km and isotonic drink every 5 km from 10 km [17], and all finishers in every race are to get a medal [18]. The published 2027 cut-offs are tighter below the marathon: four hours for the half, two for the 10 km and one for the 5 km [17]. Fees are P2,999 for the marathon, P2,799 for the half and P1,499 for the 10 km and 5 km, and the marathon winners get P70,000 [15].
Nobody from this site ran the race. This review draws on the organiser's race information and 2027 route map, the full results, airport weather records, local reporting in English and Cebuano, and a runner's columns in SunStar Cebu.