The following tables are an overview of all current national records in the marathon, as compiled 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 ...

and other authoritative sources of road racing statistics.

Background

The IAAF is 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 ...

. As of 2018, the national governing bodies of 214 countries and

territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

are affiliated to the IAAF as National Member Federations. According to the IAAF, their lists of national records "mainly include official records as recognized by various national federations" and notes that in some cases "federations recognize invalid performances". The Boston Marathon is considered the site of several national records, yet this course is invalid for the world record because it is point-to-point with a greater than allowable elevation drop -— performance aiding situations. The IAAF's list includes Palestine, whose Palestine Athletic Federation is the national governing body of athletics affiliated to the IAAF. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is represented in the IAAF by

UK Athletics UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics officials. The orga ...

, which in turn is affiliated with the athletic associations of England, Northern Ireland,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

(collectively known as the Home Country Athletics Federations). Although the IAAF notes only the fastest performance under the UK umbrella, these associations each compile a list of national records in track and field. The IAAF's list includes some British overseas territories that compete under their own flags (e.g.

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

British Virgin Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = Territorial song , song = " Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands" , image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg , map_caption = , mapsize = 290px , image_map2 = Bri ...

, and Cayman Islands). Other road racing sources slightly differ regarding which types of political states are included in their national records lists. For example, Athletics Weekly's list includes countries of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, as well as the Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

, and

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...

which are technically not part of the United Kingdom. The Association of Road Racing Statisticians' list includes all of the above plus the British overseas territory of Saint Helena. Similar list variations occur with other political states or territories affiliated with Denmark, France, and New Zealand. Another important reference source is the 2018 edition of NATIONAL ATHLETICS RECORDS (NAR) for all countries in the world by Winfried Kramer with the assistance of Heinrich Hubbeling, Yves Pinaud and Steffan Stube. Several national records were run on a date when an athlete represented a country currently no longer in existence such as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. On achieving independence the appropriate national federation of the current national state retroactively recognized them as valid NRs.

Background

Marathon records by region

Men

Women

Men's national records

Women's national records

See also

Notes

References