World records in the marathon are ratified by World Athletics, the international governing body for the sport of athletics. The late Kenyan athlete Kelvin Kiptum set a men's world record time of 2:00:35 on October 8, 2023, at the 2023 Chicago Marathon, a mixed-sex race. Kenyan athlete Ruth Chepng'etich broke the women's world record with a time of 2:09:56 on October 13, 2024 at the 2024 Chicago Marathon, 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 2:16:16 was set by Peres Jepchirchir on April 21, 2024 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 (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, Greek runners Charilaos Vasilakos (3:18:00) and Ioannis Lavrentis (3:11:27) won the first two modern marathons. On April 10, 1896, Spiridon Louis 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 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, 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 at the 1908 Summer Olympics, with a time of 2:55:18.4. It is possible that Stamata Revithi, 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 5 1/2 hours. World Athletics credits Violet Piercy'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 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 from Australia is frequently credited as the first woman to break the three-hour barrier in the marathon. In the 1953 Boston Marathon, the top three male finishers were thought to have broken the standing world record, but Keizo Yamada'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 also does not report Yamada's performance as a world best for this reason. On October 25, 1981, American Alberto Salazar and New Zealander Allison Roe set apparent world bests at the New York City Marathon (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, the Association of Road Racing Statisticians 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 of Kenya recorded a time of 2:03:02, followed by countryman Moses Mosop 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 (1909, 1913, 1952–54, 1963–65). WA-recognized world records have been broken at all of the original five World Marathon Majors on numerous occasions (updated 09/2022); twelve times at the Berlin Marathon, three times at the Boston Marathon, five times at the Chicago Marathon, six times at the London Marathon, 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 42.195 km 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: In recognizing Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai's mark of 2:03:02 at the 2011 Boston Marathon 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 [on that course] are not eligible for World record consideration." The Association of Road Racing Statisticians, an independent organization that compiles data from road running 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., announced that three top distance runners — Eliud Kipchoge, Zersenay Tadese, and Lelisa Desisa — 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 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 with the titles 'Fastest marathon distance (male)' and 'First marathon distance run under two hours' instead of an official world record.

Men

Table key: The edition of the marathon is linked on some of the dates.

Women

Table key:

Gallery of world record holders

Sources