Kipchoge breaks Melbourne Marathon record with a new watch brand

At 41, and just 25 days short of his 42nd birthday, Eliud Kipchoge has claimed his first marathon victory in three years, this time with a different brand on his wrist. The longtime COROS athlete appears to have run the Melbourne Marathon wearing Huawei’s Watch GT Runner 2.

Kipchoge crossed the line in 2:09:10, two seconds inside the previous Melbourne course record. Thomas Do Canto finished second in 2:10:35, while Reece Edwards took third in 2:14:33 according to the official results. It was Kipchoge’s 17th marathon victory and his first since Berlin in 2023, coming at the third stop of his project to run a marathon on every continent.

We believe the watch on Kipchoge’s wrist is the Huawei Watch GT Runner 2. The round case, light perforated strap and his switch from COROS to Huawei all line up, and he has already raced with the GT Runner 2 earlier this year.

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From COROS to Huawei

For years, Kipchoge was one of COROS’s most visible ambassadors, wearing its watches in some of the biggest races of his career. The company even released Kipchoge editions of the PACE 2 and PACE 3, the latter modelled on the watch he wore for his fifth Berlin Marathon win in 2023.

The relationship shifted heading into 2026. Huawei announced a partnership with Kipchoge and his running team in January, then launched the Watch GT Runner 2 in February with him as its global ambassador. According to Huawei, he and other elite runners provided feedback during the watch’s development.

He has raced with it before, too. Huawei confirmed that Kipchoge wore the GT Runner 2 at the Porto Alegre Marathon in July, saying the watch recorded the race as part of his world marathon project.

A lightweight running watch

The timepiece is a lightweight running watch rather than another general-purpose GT model. It weighs around 34.5 grams without its strap and offers dual-band GPS, running power, lactate threshold estimates and a dedicated marathon mode. Much of the software was shaped by feedback from Kipchoge and his team.

You can see the full hardware breakdown in our Huawei Watch GT Runner 2 specifications.

There is a neat symmetry to all this. For years, Kipchoge was central to how COROS presented itself to runners. Now Huawei is trying to establish itself as a serious running watch brand, and its new ambassador appears to have worn its flagship running watch while setting a Melbourne course record.

What’s also worth remembering is how differently an elite marathoner uses a running watch. Kipchoge doesn’t need turn-by-turn navigation, training prompts or most of the extras brands like to advertise. On race day, the basics matter most: reliable GPS, pace, heart rate and a screen that is easy to read at speed.