What is the marathon world record? Best time of man and woman

The marathon is the queen distance of athletics. Ever since Pheidippides ran 40 kilometers to announce the victory of the Greeks against the Persians, the ordeal has become a legend that is relived every weekend in some corner of the world.

At the end of the 19th century, Pierre de Coubertin recovered the ancient victory to include it in the program of the first modern Olympic Games and thus obtained its current format: a road race with an exact length of 42.195 kilometers.

Since then, countless runners have dedicated themselves to the goddess of athletics in order to conquer her in the shortest time possible. The first to set the official marathon record was the American John Hayes at the 1908 London Olympic Games with a time of 2h55:18.

According to the World Athletics book on the development of athletics records, it was necessary to wait until 1935 for a runner to break the 2h30 barrier in an official marathon. This is Japan Yasuo Ikenata in Tokyo with a time of 2h26:44.

In the 1950s, the British James Peters responsible for lowering the record to 2h17:39 and, at the 1960 Rome Games, the Ethiopian Adebe Bikila He immortalized his name by winning the Olympic marathon barefoot with a record of 2:15:16.

By the turn of the century, Africans had completely taken over the distance. First is the Moroccan Khalid Khannouchi who broke the record twice in a row until he left it at 2h05:38 in 2002.

Later came the Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassieone of the most famous names that this discipline has produced, having lowered the record to 2:03:59 in the 2008 Berlin Marathon.

Closer to our days, the Kenyan Eliud Kipchogeconsidered the best marathon runner of all time, broke the record twice in a row to 2:01:09.

The current marathon world record belongs to the late Kelvin Kiptum, who in October 2023 won the Chicago Marathon in 2h00:35 and showed that he is in position to become the first athlete under 2 hours in an official marathon. However, a few months later, he lost his life in a fatal traffic accident. He is only 23 years old.

Marathon world record progression (men)

• 2:55:18.4 – Johnny Hayes (USA) – 1908
• 2:52:45.4 – Robert Fowler (USA) – 1909
• 2:46:52.8 – James Clark (USA) – 1909
• 2:46:04.6 – Albert Raines (USA) – 1909
• 2:42:31.0 – Henry Barrett (GBR) – 1909
• 2:40:34.2 – Thure Johansson (SUE) – 1909
• 2:38:16.2 – Harry Green (GBR) – 1913
• 2:36:06.6 – Alexis Ahlgren (SUE) – 1913
• 2:32:35.8 – Hannes Kolehmainen (FIN) – 1920
• 2:30:57.6 – Harry Payne (GBR) – 1929
• 2:26:44.0 – Yasuo Ikenaka (JPN) – 1935
• 2:26:42 – Sohn Kee-chung (JPN/KOR) – 1935
• 2:20:42.2 – James Peters (GBR) – 1952
• 2:18:40.4 – James Peters (GBR) – 1953
• 2:18:34.8 – James Peters (GBR) – 1953
• 2:17:39.4 – James Peters (GBR) – 1954
• 2:15:17.0 – Sergei Popov (USSR) – 1958
• 2:15:16.2 – Abebe Bikila (ETH) – 1960
• 2:15:15.8 – Toru Terasawa (JPN) – 1963
• 2:14:28 – Leonard Edelen (USA) – 1963
• 2:13:55 – Basil Heatley (GBR) – 1964
• 2:12:11.2 – Abebe Bikila (ETH) – 1964
• 2:12:00 – Morio Shigematsu (JPN) – 1965
• 2:09:36.4 – Derek Clayton (AUS) – 1967
• 2:09:28.8 – Ron Hill (GBR) – 1970
• 2:09:12 – Ian Thompson (GBR) – 1974
• 2:09:05.6 – Shigeru So (JPN) – 1978
• 2:09:01 – Gerard Nijboer (NED) – 1980
• 2:08:18 – Robert De Castella (AUS) – 1981
• 2:08:05 – Steve Jones (GBR) – 1984
• 2:07:12 – Carlos Lopes (POR) – 1985
• 2:06:50 – Belayneh Dinsamo (ETH) – 1988
• 2:06:05 – Ronaldo da Costa (BRA) – 1998
• 2:05:42 – Khalid Khannouchi (MAR) – 1999
• 2:05:38 – Khalid Khannouchi (USA) – 2002
• 2:04:55 – Paul Tergat (KEN) – 2003
• 2:04:26 – Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) – 2007
• 2:03:59 – Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) – 2008
• 2:03:38 – Patrick Makau (KEN) – 2011
• 2:03:23 – Wilson Kipsang (KEN) – 2013
• 2:02:57 – Dennis Kimetto (KEN) – 2014
• 2:01:39 – Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) – 2018
• 2:01:09 – Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) – 2022
• 2:00:35 – Kelvin Kiptum (KEN) – 2023

Marathon world record progression (women)

• 5:40:00 – Marie-Louise Ledru (FRA) – 1918
• 4:56:00 – Juanita Pacencia (MEX) – 1927
• 4:49:00 – Grandma Cuzarare (MEX) – 1927
• 4:30:00 – Violet Percy (GBR) – 1936
• 3:37:07 – Merry Lepper (USA) – 1963
• 3:27:25 – Dale Greig (GBR) – 1964
• 3:19:33 – Mildred Sampson (NZL) – 1964
• 3:15:22 – Maureen Wilton (CAN) – 1967
• 3:07:26.2 – Anni Pede-Erdkamp (FRG) – 1967
• 3:02:53 – Caroline Walker (USA) – 1970
• 3:01:42 – Elizabeth Bonner (USA) – 1971
• 2:55:22 – Elizabeth Bonner (USA) – 1971
• 2:49:40 – Cheryl Bridges (USA) – 1971
• 2:46:36 – Michiko Gorman (USA) – 1973
• 2:46:24 – Chantal Langlace (FRA) – 1974
• 2:43:54.5 – Jacqueline Hansen (USA) – 1974
• 2:42:24 – Liane Winter (FRG) – 1975
• 2:40:15.8 – Christa Vahlensieck (FRG) – 1975
• 2:38:19 – Jacqueline Hansen (USA) – 1975
• 2:35:15.4 – Chantal Langlace (FRA) – 1977
• 2:34:47.5 – Christa Vahlensieck (FRG) – 1977
• 2:32:29.8 – Grete Waitz (NOR) – 1978
• 2:27:32.6 – Grete Waitz (NOR) – 1979
• 2:25:41.3 – Grete Waitz (NOR) – 1980
• 2:25:28 – – Grete Waitz (NOR) – 1983
• 2:22:43 – Joan Benoit (USA) – 1983
• 2:21:06 – Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) – 1985
• 2:20:47 – Tegla Loroupe (KEN) – 1998
• 2:20:43 – Tegla Loroupe (KEN) – 1999
• 2:19:46 – Naoko Takahashi (JPN) – 2001
• 2:18:47 – Catherine Ndereba (KEN) – 2001
• 2:17:18 – Paula Radcliffe (GBR) – 2002
• 2:15:25 – Paula Radcliffe (GBR) – 2003
• 2:14:04 – Brigid Kosgei (KEN) – 2019
• 2:11:53 – Tigst Assefa (ETH) – 2023