Two of the world's leading marathon runners Aselefech Mergia and Mare Dibaba will go head-to-head in the women's race at the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label road race, on 26 January.

Ethiopia's Mare Dibaba and Jake Robertson of New Zealand took the victories at the EDP Lisbon Half Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, in the Portuguese capital on Sunday (19).

The EDP Lisbon Half Marathon’s flat and fast course has attracted numerous global medallists to the IAAF Gold Label Road Race on Sunday (19).

Organisers of the EDP Lisbon Half Marathon have announced that Olympic marathon champion Jemima Sumgong, world marathon champion Mare Dibaba and Olympic 5000m champion Vivian Cheruiyot will line up against one another at the IAAF Gold Label Road Race on 19 March.

Major championship marathons are unpredictable for three main reasons.

World marathon champion Mare Dibaba is one of six athletes who will represent Ethiopia in the marathon at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Ethiopian athletes have won both the men’s and women’s races at the past seven editions of the Chevron Houston Marathon; a trend that looks set to continue at the IAAF Bronze Label Road Race on 17 January.

Tigist Tufa will return to the scene of her greatest triumph when she lines up to defend her Virgin Money London Marathon title on Sunday 24 April, organisers of the IAAF Gold Label Road Race announced on Tuesday (12).

Statisticians A Lennart Julin and Mirko Jalava look back on the best road-running performances of the year.

The Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) named Eliud Kipchoge and Mare Dibaba as the male and female winners of the AIMS Best Marathon Runner Award for 2015.

No other city in the world this year can boast of having two IAAF Gold Label Road Races on the same day, but on Sunday (18) the Portuguese capital of Lisbon will host the Rock’n’Roll Marathon of Lisbon EDP and the Rock’n’Roll Half Marathon Vodafone RTP.

World marathon champion Mare Dibaba and Kenya’s Bernard Koech headline the elite fields for the Rock’n’Roll Vodafone RTP Half Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, in Lisbon on 18 October.