The

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 organization ...

in the

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcu ...

has been officially recognised since 1 January 2004 by the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

(IAAF), 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 ge ...

for the

sport of athletics Athletics is a group of sporting events that involves competitive running, jumping, throwing sports, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and racewalking ...

. A total of five men's world records and six women's world records have been officially ratified since that date. The IAAF officially recognised the fastest times prior to that date as a "world best" from 1 January 2003 onwards. Before that date, the IAAF did not recognise any

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 ac ...

world records,IAAF Statistics Book – IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015
IAAF (2015), pp. 684-5, 805-6. Retrieved on 19 February 2017 though the concept of a world record was recognised by other organisations, such as 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 ...

(ARRS).World Best Progressions- Road

. Retrieved on 19 February 2017. The men's half-marathon world record is 57:31, set by Ugandan

Jacob Kiplimo Jacob Kiplimo (born 14 November 2000) is a Ugandan long-distance runner. He is Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics, 2020 Tokyo Olympic 10,000 metres bronze medallist and also won bronze in the event at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. Ki ...

on during the

Lisbon Half Marathon EDP Lisbon Half Marathon is an annual international half marathon competition which is contested every March in Lisbon, Portugal. It carries IAAF Gold Label Road Race status. The men's course record of 57:31 was set by Jacob Kiplimo in 2021, whi ...

. The women's record is 1:02:52, set by Letesenbet Gidey on 24 October 2021, at the Valencia Half Marathon. The previous record of 1:04:02 was set by Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya on 4 April 2021, in Istanbul, Turkey. On 8 September 2019,

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 is the c ...

ran a time of 64:28 minutes at the 2019

Great North Run The Great North Run (branded the Simplyhealth Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and Sou ...

in Newcastle, England, 23 seconds faster than previous best, however the Great North Run is not eligible for record purposes. The IAAF has since 2011 also kept records for the fastest time run by women in women-only races (i.e. without male

pacemaker An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart eith ...

s). The best time for that category is held by

Peres Jepchirchir Peres Jepchirchir (born 27 September 1993) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes mainly in road running competitions. She won the gold medal in the women's marathon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Jepchirchir was the champion ...

, who ran 1:05:16 in

Gdynia Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and ...

on 17 October 2020. There was some criticism of this change, as the IAAF originally intended to downgrade world records set in mixed gender races to "world best" status, but in response the organisation agreed to maintain historic marks as official. Races close to the official half marathon distance of 21.0975 kilometres (13.1094 mi) had taken place throughout the early 20th century, and athletes had also been timed at the midpoint of full

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , 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 also wheelchair div ...

s, but the first half marathon races proper emerged in the 1960s. Some of that era, such as the

Route du Vin Half Marathon The ING Route du Vin Half Marathon (french: ING Route du Vin Semi-Marathon) is an annual road running competition over the half marathon distance (21.1 km/13.1 mi) which takes place in late September in Remich, Luxembourg. It is organised ...

and San Blas Half Marathon (which both took the official distance in 1966) are extant today. The earliest half marathon world record accepted by the

Association of Track and Field Statisticians The Association of Track and Field Statisticians (ATFS) was founded in 1950. It is an international organization run by volunteers whose goal is to collect and disseminate the statistics of track and field athletics. Foundation On 26 August 19 ...

is that of 67:01 minutes ran by Englishman Brian Hill-Cottingham in

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

in 1960. For women, the earliest ARRS-recognised time is that of American

Kathy Gibbons Kathy is a feminine given name. It is a pet form of Katherine, Kathleen and their related forms. Kathy may refer to: In sports * Kathy Bald, Canadian freestyle swimmer * Kathy May, American tennis player *Kathy Radzuweit, German volleyball playe ...

, who finished the distance in 83:56 on 7 March 1971 in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

. The earliest men's and women's marks recognised as world records by the IAAF are 65:44 set by

Ron Hill Ronald Hill MBE (25 September 1938 – 23 May 2021) was a British runner and clothing entrepreneur. He was the second man to break 2:10 in the marathon; he set world records at four other distances, and laid claim to the marathon world reco ...

in 1965 and 75:04 set by

Marty Cooksey Martha "Marty" Cooksey (born July 18, 1954) is an American former long-distance runner who competed in events ranging from 5000 meters to the marathon. She achieved her marathon best time of 2:35:42 hours at the American Olympic Trials in 1984. S ...

in 1978. On 30 March 1991,

Arturo Barrios Arturo Barrios Flores (born December 12, 1962 in Mexico City) is a Mexican long-distance runner who set the 10,000 m world record in 1989, the one hour world record in 1991, and the 20,000 m world record en route to the one hour run world recor ...

ran a world record distance of 21.101 km in

one hour ''One Hour'' is the eleventh full-length album by German electronic music outfit Cluster. It was recorded live in the studio in Vienna, Austria in July, 1994 and released on January 24, 1995 on the U.S.-based Gyroscope label. Precisely one h ...

, becoming the first man to run the half marathon distance in under one hour. On 3 April 1993,

Moses Tanui Moses Tanui (born 20 August 1965 in Sugoi Nandi District, Kenya) is a former Kenyan long-distance runner who won the gold medal over 10,000 metres at the 1991 World Championships in Athletics in Tokyo. Biography At the 1993 World Championships i ...

became the first man to run a half marathon race in under one hour, with a time of 59:47.

World record progression

Key:

Men

Women

Notes

References

External links

Association of Track and Field Statisticians website
{{Athletics record progressions

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 organization ...

World athletics record progressions