World record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

s in the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

are ratified by

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

, the international

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

for the sport of

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

. The late Kenyan athlete

Kelvin Kiptum Kelvin Kiptum Cheruiyot (2 December 1999 – 11 February 2024) was a Kenyan long-distance runner who currently holds the marathon world record. , he holds three of the seven fastest marathons in history, and was ranked first among the world's ...

set a men's world record time of 2:00:35 on October 8, 2023, at the

2023 Chicago Marathon The 2023 Chicago Marathon was the 45th edition of the annual marathon race in Chicago, held on Sunday, . A Platinum Label marathon, it was the fifth of six World Marathon Majors events that were held in 2023. The race also hosted the age gro ...

, a mixed-sex race. Kenyan athlete

Ruth Chepng'etich Ruth Chepng'etich (often spelled Ruth Chepngetich, born 8 August 1994) is a Kenyan road runner who is the current women's world record holder in the marathon, with a time of 2:09:56 set at the 2024 Chicago Marathon. She is the 2019 world cham ...

broke the women's world record with a time of 2:09:56 on October 13, 2024, at the

2024 Chicago Marathon The 2024 Chicago Marathon was the 46th edition of the annual Chicago Marathon, held on October 13, 2024. The race is the fifth of six World Marathon Majors held in 2024, and is a platinum label race. The marathon had 120,000 applications in 202 ...

, a mixed-sex race. In addition to the standard women's marathon world record, World Athletics also recognizes a second world record for women in the "Women Only" category, meaning that the marathon was run on a course without any male athletes in the competition. The current "Women Only" record of 2:15:50 was set by

Tigst Assefa Tigst Assefa Tessema (; Oromo: Tigist Asaffaa Tasammaa; born 3 December 1996) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner and the former world record holder in the women's marathon. She has won three top-tier World Marathon Majors, two in Berlin and ...

on April 27, 2025, at the London Marathon in the elite women's race.

History

Marathon races were first held in 1896, but the distance was not standardized by the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international governing body for the sport of athletics, coverin ...

(IAAF, now World Athletics) until 1921. The actual distance for pre-1921 races frequently varied from the 1921 standard of 42.195 km (26 miles 385 yards). In qualifying races for the

1896 Summer Olympics The 1896 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad () and commonly known as Athens 1896 (), were the first international Olympic Games held in modern history. Organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), wh ...

, Greek runners

Charilaos Vasilakos Charilaos Vasilakos (, November 1875 – 1 December 1964) was a Greek athlete and the first man to win a marathon race. He also won a silver medal for a second place finish in marathon at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Biography Vasilakos ...

(3:18:00) and Ioannis Lavrentis (3:11:27) won the first two modern marathons. On April 10, 1896,

Spiridon Louis Spyridon Louis ( , sometimes transliterated ''Spiridon Loues''; 12 January 1873 – 26 March 1940), commonly known as Spyros Louis (Σπύρος Λούης), was a Greek water carrier who won the first modern-day Olympic marathon at the 1896 ...

of Greece won the first Olympic marathon in Athens, Greece, in a time of 2:58:50. However, the distance for the event was 40,000 meters. Three months later, British runner Len Hurst won the inaugural Paris to Conflans Marathon (also around 40 km) in a time of 2:31:30. In 1900, Hurst would better his time on the same course with a 2:26:28 performance. Later,

Shizo Kanakuri was a Japanese marathon runner celebrated as the "father of marathon" in Japan. He holds the Guinness World Record for the longest time to complete a marathon with a time of 54 years 8 months 6 days 5 hours 32 minutes 20.3 seconds—Kanakuri reti ...

of Japan was reported to have set a world record of 2:32:45 in a November 1911 domestic qualification race for the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

, but this performance was also run over a distance of approximately 40 km. The first marathon over the official distance was won by American

Johnny Hayes John Joseph Hayes (April 10, 1886 – August 25, 1965) was an American athlete, a member of the Irish American Athletic Club, and winner of the marathon race at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Hayes' Olympic victory contributed to the early gro ...

at the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

, with a time of 2:55:18.4. It is possible that

Stamata Revithi Stamata Revithi (; 1866 – after 1896) was a Greek woman who ran the 40-kilometre marathon during the 1896 Summer Olympics. The Games excluded women from competition, but Revithi insisted that she be allowed to run. Revithi ran one day after ...

, who ran the 1896 Olympic course a day after Louis, is the first woman to run the modern marathon; she is said to have finished in hours. World Athletics credits

Violet Piercy Violet Stewart Louisa Piercy (24 December 1889 – 11 April 1972) was an English long-distance runner who is recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations as having set the first women's world best in the marathon on 3 ...

's 1926 performance as the first woman to race the standard marathon distance; however, other sources report that the 1918 performance of

Marie-Louise Ledru Marie-Louise Ledru was a French athlete who has been credited as the first woman to race the now-defined marathon distance of 42.195 km. On 29 September 1918 Ledru reportedly completed the Tour de Paris Marathon in a time of 5 hours and 40 min ...

in the Tour de Paris set the initial mark for women. Other "unofficial" performances have also been reported to be world bests or world records over time: although her performance is not recognized by World Athletics,

Adrienne Beames Adrienne Beames (7 September 1942, Victoria, Australia – 27 December 2018) was an Australian long-distance runner frequently credited as the first woman to break the 3-hour barrier in the marathon. 1971 marathon attempt In the early 1970s, ...

from Australia is frequently credited as the first woman to break the three-hour barrier in the marathon. In the 1953

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by eight cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was ins ...

, the top three male finishers were thought to have broken the standing world record, but

Keizo Yamada was a long-distance runner from Japan, who won the 1956 edition of the Fukuoka Marathon, clocking 2:25:15 on December 9, 1956. He represented his native country at the 1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as ...

's mark of 2:18:51 is considered to have been set on a short course of 25.54 miles (41.1 km). The

Boston Athletic Association The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) is a non-profit dedicated to organized sports, with a focus on running, in the Greater Boston area. The B.A.A. hosts such events as the Boston Marathon, the B.A.A. 5K, the B.A.A. 10K, the B.A.A. Half Mar ...

also does not report Yamada's performance as a world best for this reason.''114th B.A.A Boston Marathon Official Program''. April 19, 2010. On October 25, 1981, American

Alberto Salazar Alberto Salazar (born August 7, 1958) is an American former track coach and long-distance runner. Born in Cuba, Salazar immigrated to the United States as a child with his family, living in Connecticut and then in Wayland, Massachusetts, where ...

and New Zealander Allison Roe set apparent world bests at the

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 fini ...

(2:08:13 and 2:25:29), however, these marks were invalidated when the course was later found to have been 151 meters short. Although World Athletics' progression notes three performances set on the same course in 1978, 1979, and 1980 by Norwegian

Grete Waitz Grete Waitz (, 1 October 195319 April 2011) was a Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder. In 1979, at the New York City Marathon, she became the first woman in history to run the marathon in under two and a half hours. Waitz ...

, the

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...

considers the New York City course suspect for those performances, too. On April 18, 2011, the Boston Marathon produced what were at that time the two fastest marathon performances of all time. Winner

Geoffrey Mutai Geoffrey Kiprono Mutai (born 7 October 1981) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in road running competitions. On 18 April 2011 at the Boston Marathon, Mutai ran the fastest marathon ever at the time in a time of 2 hours 3 minutes ...

of Kenya recorded a time of 2:03:02, followed by countryman

Moses Mosop Moses Cheruiyot Mosop (born 7 July 1985) is a Kenyan middle and long distance athlete. He competed for Kenya at the 2004 Olympic Games and went on to take 10,000 metres bronze at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. He has also been succ ...

in 2:03:06. However, since the Boston course does not meet the criteria for record attempts, these times were not ratified by the IAAF. Eight IAAF world records were set at the

Polytechnic Marathon The Polytechnic Marathon, often called the Poly, was a marathon held annually between 1909 and 1996, over various courses in or near London. It was the first marathon to be run regularly over the distance of 26 miles, 385 yards which is now the ...

(1909, 1913, 1952–1954, 1963–1965). WA-recognized world records have been broken at all of the original five

World Marathon Majors The World Marathon Majors (WMM) sponsored by Abbott Laboratories is a championship-style competition for marathon runners that started in 2006. A points-based competition founded on seven major marathon races recognised as the most high-profile o ...

on numerous occasions (updated 09/2022); twelve times at the

Berlin Marathon The Berlin Marathon (, ) is a marathon event held annually on the streets of Berlin, Germany on the last weekend of September. Held annually since 1974, the event includes multiple races over the marathon distance of , including elite level road r ...

, three times at the Boston Marathon, five times at the

Chicago Marathon The Chicago Marathon is a road marathon held in October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the seven World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is one of the largest races by number of fini ...

, six times at the

London Marathon The London Marathon (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to Oct ...

, and five times at the New York City Marathon. However, the records established in the Boston event have been disputed on grounds of a downhill point-to-point course, while four of the five New York records have been disputed on grounds of a short course.

Criteria for record eligibility

For a performance to be ratified as a world record by World Athletics, the marathon course on which the performance occurred must be long, measured in a defined manner using the calibrated bicycle method (the distance in kilometers being the official distance; the distance in miles is an approximation) and meet other criteria that rule out artificially fast times produced on courses aided by downhill slope or tailwind. The criteria include: * "The start and finish points of a course, measured along a theoretical straight line between them, shall not be further apart than 50% of the race distance." * "The decrease in elevation between the start and finish shall not exceed an average of one in a thousand (i.e., 1m per km)." In recognizing Kenyan

's mark of 2:03:02 at the

2011 Boston Marathon The 2011 Boston Marathon took place on Monday, April 18, 2011, as the 115th official running of the Boston Marathon. On October 18, 2010, the 20,000 spots reserved for qualifiers were filled in a record-setting eight hours and three minutes. Geof ...

as (at the time) "the fastest Marathon ever run", the IAAF said: "Due to the elevation drop and point-to-point measurements of the Boston course, performances n that courseare not eligible for World record consideration." The

, an independent organization that compiles data from

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ru ...

events, also maintains an alternate marathon world best progression but with standards they consider to be more stringent.

Women's world record changes

The IAAF Congress, at the 2011 World Championships, passed a motion changing the record eligibility criteria effective October 6, 2007, so that women's world records must be set in all-women competitions. The result of the change was that Radcliffe's 2:17:42 performance at the 2005 London Marathon supplanted her own existing women's mark as the "world record"; the earlier performance is to be referred to as a "world best". Per the 2021 IAAF Competition Rules, "a World Record for performance achieved in mixed sex ("Mixed") races and a World Record for performance achieved in single sex ("Women only") races" are tracked separately.

Unofficial record attempts

In December 2016,

Nike, Inc. Nike, Inc. (stylized as ''NIKE'') is an American athletic footwear and apparel corporation headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. It is the world's largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, ...

, announced that three top distance runners —

Eliud Kipchoge Eliud Kipchoge (born 5 November 1984) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon and formerly specialized in the 5000 metres. Kipchoge is the Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon, 2016 and Athletics at th ...

Zersenay Tadese Zersenay Tadese Habtesilase ( Tigrinya: ዘርእሰናይ ታደሰ; born 8 February 1982) is an Eritrean former long-distance track and road running athlete. He held the men's half marathon world record from 2010 to 2018. His bronze medal i ...

, and

Lelisa Desisa Lelisa Desisa Benti (born 14 January 1990) is an Ethiopian former Long-distance running, long-distance runner who specialised in road running competitions. Desisa gained his first international medal at the 2009 African Junior Athletics Champion ...

— had agreed to forgo the spring marathon season to work with the company in an effort to run a sub-two-hour marathon. The

Breaking2 Breaking2 was a project by Nike to break the two-hour barrier for the marathon. Nike announced the project in November 2016 and organized a team of three elite runners who trained for a private race. The event was held on the Formula One race tr ...

event took place in the early morning of May 6, 2017; Kipchoge crossed the finish line with a time of 2:00:25. This time was more than two minutes faster than the world record. Kipchoge took part in a similar attempt to break the two-hour barrier in Vienna on October 12, 2019, as part of the Ineos 1:59 Challenge. He successfully ran the first sub two-hour marathon distance, with a time of 1:59:40.2. The effort did not count as a new world record under IAAF rules due to the setup of the challenge. Specifically, it was not an open event, Kipchoge was handed fluids by his support team throughout, the run featured a pace car, and included rotating teams of other runners pacing Kipchoge in a formation designed to reduce wind resistance and maximize efficiency. The achievement was recognized by

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

with the titles 'Fastest marathon distance (male)' and 'First marathon distance run under two hours' instead of an official world record.

Men

#> The chart is clipped at 1 hour 50 minutes (110 minutes, or 6600 seconds), and magnified by .05 (one pixel height equals 20 seconds) <# ImageSize = width:750 height:260 # The width can be changed without much harm (remember to change the PlotArea below too) PlotArea = width:700 height:150 left:40 bottom:20 DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:1905 till:2023 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1905 Colors= id:grid value: gray(0.5) LineData= width: 0.1 color: grid from: start till: end atpos: 20 from: start till: end atpos: 50 from: start till: end atpos: 80 from: start till: end atpos: 110 from: start till: end atpos: 140 from: start till: end atpos: 170 from: start till: 01/01/1915 atpos: 200 from: start till: 01/01/1915 atpos: 230 TextData= pos:(0,230) text: "3:00:00" pos:(0,200) text: "2:50:00" pos:(0,170) text: "2:40:00" pos:(0,140) text: "2:30:00" pos:(0,110) text: "2:20:00" pos:(0,80) text: "2:10:00" pos:(0,50) text: "2:00:00" pos:(0,20) text: "1:50:00" LineData= width: 0.2 color: red at: 12/07/1908 tillpos: 215.9 at: 01/01/1909 tillpos: 208.2 at: 12/02/1909 tillpos: 190.4 at: 08/05/1909 tillpos: 188.2 at: 08/05/1909 tillpos: 177.5 at: 31/08/1909 tillpos: 171.7 at: 12/05/1913 tillpos: 164.8 at: 22/08/1920 tillpos: 147.3 at: 12/10/1925 tillpos: 137.0 at: 31/03/1935 tillpos: 133.5 at: 03/04/1935 tillpos: 129.1 at: 03/11/1935 tillpos: 129.0 at: 19/04/1947 tillpos: 127.0 at: 14/06/1952 tillpos: 112.0 at: 13/06/1953 tillpos: 106.1 at: 04/10/1953 tillpos: 105.2 at: 26/06/1954 tillpos: 102.0 at: 24/08/1958 tillpos: 95.9 at: 10/09/1960 tillpos: 95.8 at: 17/02/1963 tillpos: 95.8 at: 15/06/1963 tillpos: 92.4 at: 13/06/1964 tillpos: 91.8 at: 21/10/1964 tillpos: 86.6 at: 12/06/1965 tillpos: 86.0 at: 03/12/1967 tillpos: 78.8 at: 30/05/1969 tillpos: 75.2 at: 06/12/1981 tillpos: 74.9 at: 21/10/1984 tillpos: 74.3 at: 20/04/1985 tillpos: 71.6 at: 17/04/1988 tillpos: 70.5 at: 20/09/1998 tillpos: 68.3 at: 24/10/1999 tillpos: 67.1 LineData= width: 0.2 color: blue at: 14/04/2002 tillpos: 66.9 at: 28/09/2003 tillpos: 64.8 at: 30/09/2007 tillpos: 63.8 at: 28/09/2008 tillpos: 62.0 at: 25/09/2011 tillpos: 60.9 at: 29/09/2013 tillpos: 60.1 at: 28/09/2014 tillpos: 58.9 at: 16/09/2018 tillpos: 54.8 at: 25/09/2022 tillpos: 53.2 at: 08/10/2023 tillpos: 51.39

Table key:

The edition of the marathon is linked on some of the dates.

Women

#> The chart is clipped at 2 hours 10 minutes (130 minutes, or 7800 seconds), and magnified by .05 (one pixel height equals 20 seconds) <# ImageSize = width:750 height:340 # The width can be changed without much harm (remember to change the PlotArea below too) PlotArea = width:700 height:150 left:40 bottom:20 DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:1920 till:2020 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1920 Colors= id:grid value: gray(0.5) LineData= width: 0.1 color: grid from: start till: end atpos: 20 from: start till: end atpos: 50 from: start till: end atpos: 80 from: start till: end atpos: 110 from: start till: end atpos: 140 from: start till: end atpos: 170 from: start till: end atpos: 200 from: start till: end atpos: 230 from: start till: end atpos: 260 from: start till: 01/01/1929 atpos: 290 from: start till: 01/01/1929 atpos: 320 TextData= pos:(0,320) text: "3:50:00" pos:(0,290) text: "3:40:00" pos:(0,260) text: "3:30:00" pos:(0,230) text: "3:20:00" pos:(0,200) text: "3:10:00" pos:(0,170) text: "3:00:00" pos:(0,140) text: "2:50:00" pos:(0,110) text: "2:40:00" pos:(0,80) text: "2:30:00" pos:(0,50) text: "2:20:00" pos:(0,20) text: "2:10:00" TextData= fontsize: M pos:(118,320) textcolor: red text: Listed by World Athletics as world best prior to official acceptance TextData= fontsize: M pos:(118,300) textcolor: blue text: Ratified by World Athletics as a world best (since January 1, 2003)\n or world record (since January 1, 2004) LineData= width: 0.2 color: red at: 03/10/1926 tillpos: 291.1 at: 16/12/1963 tillpos: 281.4 at: 23/05/1964 tillpos: 253.3 at: 21/07/1964 tillpos: 228.7 at: 06/05/1967 tillpos: 216.2 at: 16/09/1967 tillpos: 192.4 at: 28/02/1970 tillpos: 178.7 at: 09/05/1971 tillpos: 175.1 at: 19/09/1971 tillpos: 156.1 at: 05/12/1971 tillpos: 139.0 at: 02/12/1973 tillpos: 130.3 at: 27/10/1974 tillpos: 129.2 at: 01/12/1974 tillpos: 121.7 at: 21/04/1975 tillpos: 117.2 at: 03/05/1975 tillpos: 110.7 at: 12/10/1975 tillpos: 104.9 at: 01/05/1977 tillpos: 95.7 at: 10/09/1977 tillpos: 94.3 at: 22/10/1978 tillpos: 87.4 at: 21/10/1979 tillpos: 72.6 at: 26/10/1980 tillpos: 67.0 at: 17/04/1983 tillpos: 66.4 at: 18/04/1983 tillpos: 58.1 at: 21/04/1985 tillpos: 53.2 at: 19/04/1998 tillpos: 52.1 at: 26/09/1999 tillpos: 49.3 at: 30/09/2001 tillpos: 46.3 LineData= width: 0.2 color: blue at: 13/10/2002 tillpos: 41.9 at: 13/04/2003 tillpos: 36.3 at: 13/10/2019 tillpos: 32.2

Table key:

Gallery of world record holders

File:Hayes shore ac sm.jpg,

File:Sohn Kee-chung (Kitei Son) Marathon 1936 Summer Olympics.jpg,

Sohn Kee-chung Sohn Kee-chung (; ; August 29, 1912 – November 15, 2002) was a Korean Olympic athlete and long-distance runner. He became the first Korean to win a medal at the Olympic Games, winning gold in the Marathon (sport), marathon at the Berlin Oly ...

File:Robert de Castella 1983.jpg,

Robert de Castella Francois Robert de Castella (born 27 February 1957) is an Australian former world champion marathon runner. De Castella is widely known as "Deek" or "Deeks" to the Australian public, and "Tree" to his competitors due to his thick legs and inner ...

File:20071103 Khalid Khannouchi.jpg,

Khalid Khannouchi Khalid Khannouchi () (born September 12, 1971) is a Moroccan-born American retired long-distance runner. He is the former world record holder for the marathon and held the former road world best for the 20 km distance. He is one of only five ...

File:Kelvin Kiptum (KEN) 2023.jpg,

File:Haile Gebrselassie at Vienna City Marathon 2011.jpg,

Haile Gebrselassie Haile Gebrselassie (; born 18 April 1973) is an Ethiopian former Long-distance running, long-distance track running, track, road running athlete, and businessman. He won two Olympic gold medals and four World Athletics Championships, World Cha ...

File:Patrick Makau at the Berlin Marathon 2011.jpg,

Patrick Makau Patrick Makau Musyoki (born 2 March 1985) is a runner from Kenya. He is a former world record holder in the marathon—His time of 2:03:38, run at the 2011 Berlin Marathon, was the world record for two years, until it was beaten by Wilson Kipsa ...

File:Joan Benoit 2008.jpg,

Joan Benoit Joan Benoit Samuelson (born May 16, 1957) is an American marathon runner who was the first women's Olympic Games marathon champion, winning the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She held the fastest time for an American wo ...

File:Takahashi Naoko Nagoya Womens Marathon 2008.jpg,

Naoko Takahashi is a retired Japanese long-distance runner and Olympic gold medal-winning marathoner. She won the gold medal in the marathon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and at the 2001 Berlin Marathon she became the first woman to complete a marathon in un ...

File:Osaka07 D9M WMarathon Ndereba running.jpg,

Catherine Ndereba Catherine Nyambura Ndereba (born 21 July 1972) is a retired Kenyan marathon runner. Between 2003 and 2008, she finished in the top two in five successive global championship marathons. Ndereba has twice won the marathon at the World Championshi ...

File:Paula Radcliffe NYC Marathon 2008 cropped.jpg,

Paula Radcliffe Paula Jane Radcliffe Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 17 December 1973) is a British former long-distance runner. She is a three-time winner of the London Marathon (2002, 2003, 2005), three-time New York Marathon champion (2004, 2007, 200 ...

File:London Marathon 2018 (27765192508).jpg,

Brigid Kosgei Brigid Jepchirchir Kosgei (born 20 February 1994) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon. She won the 2018 and 2019 Chicago Marathons, the 2019 and 2020 London Marathons and the 2021 Tokyo Marathon. Kosgei was the m ...

File:Eliud Kipchoge in Berlin - 2015 (cropped).jpg,

Notes

References

Sources

* *

External links

13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics – IAAF Statistics Handbook – Daegu 2011 (all 5 parts)Runner's World What Will It Take to Run A 2-Hour Marathon?BBC – "Could a marathon ever be run in under two hours?"Interactive graph of men's and women's marathon times with race descriptions (outdated)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marathon World Record Progression

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...