This list is a chronological progression of record times for the marathon.

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 ...

s in the

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 ...

are now ratified by

World Athletics 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 fo ...

, 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), competi ...

. Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge set a world record for men of 2:01:09 on September 25, 2022, at the

2022 Berlin Marathon The 2022 Berlin Marathon was the 48th edition of the annual marathon race in Berlin, which took place on Sunday, . An Elite Platinum Label marathon, it was the first of four World Marathon Majors events to be held over the span of six weeks. ...

. This run improved on his own previous world record by 30 seconds. In 2018, he broke the then world record by 1 minute and 18 seconds, the greatest improvement over a previous record since 1967. The IAAF recognizes two world records for women, a time of 2:14:04 set by Brigid Kosgei on October 13, 2019, during the Chicago Marathon, which was contested by men and women together, and a "Women Only" record of 2:17:01, set by

Mary Keitany Mary Jepkosgei Keitany (born 18 January 1982) is a Kenyan former professional long distance runner. She is the world record holder in a women-only marathon, having won the 2017 London Marathon in a time of 2:17:01. As of November 2022, she p ...

, on April 23, 2017, at the London Marathon for women only.

Criteria for record eligibility

For a performance to be ratified as a world record by the IAAF, 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 Geoffrey Mutai's mark of 2:03:02 at the

2011 Boston Marathon The 2011 Boston Marathon took place on Monday, April 18, 2011. Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya won the men's race in a time of 2:03:02. In recognizing Mutai's mark as the "fastest Marathon ever run", the International Association of Athletics Federation ...

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." Road racing events like the marathon were specifically excepted from IAAF rule 260 18(d) that rejected from consideration those track and field performances set in mixed competition. 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 ...

, 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 ...

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

Women's world record

The IAAF Congress at 2011 World Championships in Athletics passed a motion changing the record eligibility criteria effective October 6th 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 would supplant her own existing women's mark as the "world record"; the earlier performance was to be referred to as a "world best". The decision was met with strong protest in Britain, and in November 2011 an IAAF council member reported that Radcliffe's original mark would be allowed to stand, with the eventual decision that both marks would be recognized as "world records," the faster one as a "Mixed Gender" mark, the other as a "Women Only" mark. Per the 2021 IAAF Competition Rules, "''a World Record for performance achieved in mixed gender (“Mixed”) races and a World Record for performance achieved in single gender (“Women only”) races''" is 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, though a detailed plan to complete the marathon in 1:59:59 or faster was not released. 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 tra ...

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. Among other factors, specialized pacers were used, entering the race midway to help Kipchoge keep up the pace. 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 reference book published annually, listing world ...

with the titles ‘Fastest marathon distance (male)’ and ‘First marathon distance run under two hours’.

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 (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

(IAAF) until 1921. The actual distance for pre-1921 races frequently varied slightly from the present figure of 42.195 km (26 miles 385 yards). In qualifying races for the

1896 Summer Olympics The 1896 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 1896, Therinoí Olympiakoí Agónes 1896), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 1ης Ολυμπιάδας, Agónes tis 1is Ol ...

, Greek runners Charilaos Vasilakos (3:18:00) and

Ioannis Lavrentis Ioannis Georgios Lavrentis ( el, Ιωάννης Λαυρέντης) was a Greek athlete who was likely the second runner to win a marathon. On March 12, 1896, he was first in a field of 38 runners attempting to qualify for the 1896 Summer Olympics ...

(3:11:27) won the first two modern marathons. On April 10, 1896,

Spiridon Louis Spyridon Louis ( el, Σπυρίδων Λούης , 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 ...

of Greece won the first Olympic marathon in Athens, Greece, in a time of 2:58:50; however, the distance for the event was reported to be only 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 and one of the early leaders of track and field athletics in Japan. He has been celebrated as the "father of marathon" in Japan. Biography Kanakuri was a native of Tamana, Kumamoto, Japan and attended the Tokyo Hi ...

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 ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, b ...

, but this performance was also run over a distance of approximately 40 km. The first marathon over the now 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 growt ...

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, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were o ...

, 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 5½ hours. The IAAF credits

Violet Piercy Violet Stewart Louisa Piercy (24 December 1889 – 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 Octo ...

's 1926 performance as the first woman to race what is now 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 the IAAF,

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 3-hour barrier in the marathon. In the 1953

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several 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 ...

, the top three male finishers were thought to have broken the standing world record, but Keizo Yamada's mark of 2:18:51 is now considered to have been set on a short course. The Boston Athletic Association does not report Yamada's performance as a world best.''114th B.A.A Boston Marathon Official Program''. April 19, 2010. On October 25, 1981, American Alberto Salazar and New Zealander

Allison Roe Allison Pamela Roe (née Deed; born 30 May 1956) is a New Zealand politician and former long-distance athlete. Athletics career Roe was born in Auckland in 1956. In 1981, she won both the Boston Marathon and New York City Marathon, becoming ...

set apparent world bests at the

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor (commercial), sponsor) is an annual Marathon (sport), marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest mar ...

(2:08:13 and 2:25:29); however, these marks were invalidated when the course was later found to have been nearly 150 meters short. Although the IAAF's progression notes three performances set on the same course in 1978, 1979, and 1980 by Norwegian Grete Waitz, the

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 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 suc ...

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 have been set at the Polytechnic Marathon (1909, 1913, 1952–54, 1963–65). IAAF world records have been broken at all of the original five

World Marathon Majors The World Marathon Majors (WMM) (known for sponsorship reasons as the Abbott World Marathon Majors) is a championship-style competition for marathon runners that started in 2006. A points-based competition founded on six major marathon races reco ...

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

Berlin Marathon The Berlin Marathon (german: 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 , i ...

, three times at the

, five times at the Chicago Marathon, six times at the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...

, and five times at the

. 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.

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

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 the IAAF as world best prior to official acceptance TextData= fontsize: M pos:(118,300) textcolor: blue text: Ratified by the International Association of Athletics Federations 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:KC Sohn.jpg, Sohn Kee-chung File:20071103 Khalid Khannouchi.jpg,

Khalid Khannouchi Khalid Khannouchi ( ar, خالد خنّوشي) (born September 12, 1971) is a retired American marathoner. He was born in Meknes, Morocco. He is the former world record holder for the marathon and held the former road world best for the 20 km ...

File:Paul Tergat winning the 2003 Berlin Marathon.jpg, Paul Tergat File:Haile Gebrselassie at Vienna City Marathon 2011.jpg,

Haile Gebrselassie Haile Gebrselassie ( am, ኀይሌ ገብረ ሥላሴ, ''haylē gebre silassē''; born 18 April 1973) is an Ethiopian retired long-distance track, road running athlete, and businessman. He won two Olympic gold medals and four World Champions ...

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 wom ...

File:Takahashi Naoko Nagoya Womens Marathon 2008.jpg, Naoko Takahashi File:Osaka07 D9M WMarathon Ndereba running.jpg, Catherine Ndereba File:Paula Radcliffe NYC Marathon 2008 cropped.jpg, Paula Radcliffe File:London Marathon 2018 (27765192508).jpg, Brigid Kosgei

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 , 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 ...