For those who run after.
A new year means it’s time for speedrun fans everywhere to suddenly remember, “Oh right—AGDQ starts this weekend.” Awesome Games Done Quick is back once again, and the AGDQ 2026 schedule is packed with standout runs, ranging from last year’s top GOTY contenders to a delightfully unhinged-sounding Super Mario 64 relay featuring dozens of runners.
AGDQ 2026 officially kicks off on Sunday, January 4, starting at 8:30am PT / 11:30am ET / 4:30pm GMT with a 30-minute opening show. That’s followed by a Super Mario Sunshine any% run, where runner inkstar aims to finish the GameCube classic in an estimated 1 hour and 16 minutes. As usual, the event spans a full week and wraps up on Saturday, January 10, closing with a Pokémon Emerald “pick-my-main” run by adef, where the audience will vote on which Pokémon he’s forced to use for the entire playthrough.
While those runs bookend the marathon, the full schedule offers plenty of reasons to tune in throughout the week. One major highlight is a roughly two-hour any% glitchless race through Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, our pick for the best game of 2025. Several other recent hits are also featured, including an “all weapons” run of Hades 2 expected to take about two hours, and a one-hour any% run of Donkey Kong Bananza—assuming certain donation incentives are met.
That said, the real magic of GDQ often lies in the bizarre, one-of-a-kind runs that only happen when the community comes together. Last year, that honor went to a Crazy Taxi speedrun backed by a live band performing the soundtrack. This year’s standout might be the 70-star, 70-runner Super Mario 64 relay, where an enormous lineup of players works together to clear the game in under 1 hour and 40 minutes. Similar relay runs have appeared at other events before, but this one sounds like exactly the kind of chaotic spectacle GDQ thrives on.
AGDQ 2026 will stream live on Twitch, with on-demand uploads available afterward on the GDQ YouTube channel. As always, the marathon supports the Prevent Cancer Foundation, with the event having raised over $2.5 million in each of the past three years.
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