The African Marathon Championships was a biennial marathon running competition between athletes from Africa. A short-lived event, it was first staged in 1994 and held for a second and final time in 1996. The inaugural event was held on 4 December in Abidjan, Ivory Coast and the ultimate event on 1 December in Soweto, South Africa. The 1996 race was incorporated into the . The event was the fourth discrete continental marathon championship to be established after the European Marathon Cup (1981), Asian Marathon Championship (1988), and the South American Marathon Championships (April 1994).