The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of 42.195 km, 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 divisions. More than 800 marathons are held worldwide each year, with the vast majority of competitors being recreational athletes, as larger marathons can have tens of thousands of participants.
World records in the marathon are ratified by World Athletics, the international governing body for the sport of athletics.
Margaret Okayo is a professional Kenyan marathon runner. She has won four World Marathon Majors with victories in the New York City Marathon, the Boston Marathon and the London Marathon, setting three course records. Okayo's 2003 New York course record of 2:22:31 still stands today, despite the challenge of some of the world’s best distance runners having the benefit of improved shoe technology. She has also won the San Diego Marathon on two occasions.
Catherine Nyambura Ndereba is a retired Kenyan marathon runner. Between 2003 and 2008, she finished in the top two in five successive global championship marathons. Ndereba has twice won the marathon at the World Championships in Athletics and won silver medals at the Summer Olympic Games in 2004 and 2008, becoming Kenya's first female multi-medalist. She is also a four-time winner of the Boston Marathon and a two-time winner of the Chicago Marathon. It was at the latter in 2001 that she broke the women's marathon world record with a time of 2:18:47.
A half marathon is a road running event of 21.0975 kilometres —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 shortcuts. If finisher medals are awarded, the medal or ribbon may differ from those for the full marathon. The half marathon is also known as a 21K, 21.1K, or 13.1 miles, although these values are rounded and not formally correct.
Naoko Takahashi is a retired Japanese long-distance runner and Olympic gold medal-winning marathoner. She won the gold medal in the marathon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and at the 2001 Berlin Marathon she became the first woman to complete a marathon in under 2 hours and 20 minutes.
Olivera Jevtić is a Serbian long-distance runner. She has represented her country five times at the Olympics in 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016.
Souad Aït Salem, also known as Souad Aït Mahour-Bacha is an Algerian long-distance runner who specializes mainly in the half marathon and marathon. She won gold in the 10,000 metres at the 2000 African Championships in Athletics and the 2005 Mediterranean Games. Salem also won the gold in the half marathon at the 2007 All-Africa Games. She holds the Algerian records for every women's event between 3000 metres and the marathon distance.
The Amsterdam Marathon is an annual marathon (42.195 km) in Amsterdam in the Netherlands since 1975. The road race has a Platinum Label from World Athletics. During the event, there are also a half marathon race (21.097 km) and an 8 km race in the program.
Lyudmila Nikolayevna Petrova is a Russian long-distance runner, who represented her native country at two Summer Olympics: 1996 and 2004. She won the 2000 edition of the New York City Marathon.
The 12th IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was held on October 4, 2003 in Vilamoura, Portugal. A total of 171 athletes, 98 men and 73 women, from 49 countries took part. Detailed reports on the event and an appraisal of the results were given both for the men's race and for the women's race.
The men's marathon event at the 2003 Pan American Games took place on Saturday, 9 August 2003. Brazil's title defender Vanderlei de Lima once again proved to be the best marathoner, clocking a winning time of 2h 19m 08s.
The women's marathon event at the 2003 Pan American Games took place on Saturday, 9 August 2003. Brazil's Márcia Narloch won the title, defeating title defender Érika Olivera from Chile.
Rasa Drazdauskaitė is a Lithuanian long-distance runner. She represented her country at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, finishing 37th in the marathon. She represented Lithuania again at London 2012, finishing in 27th place.
The 2003 World Marathon Cup was the tenth edition of the World Marathon Cup of athletics and were held in Paris, France, inside of the 2003 World Championships.
The world record in the half marathon has been officially recognized since 1 January 2004 by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the international governing body for the sport of athletics. A total of five men's world records and six women's world records have been officially ratified since that date. The IAAF officially recognized the fastest times before that date as a "world best" from 1 January 2003 onwards. Before that date, the IAAF did not recognize any road running world records, though the concept of a world record was recognized by other organizations, such as the Association of Road Racing Statisticians (ARRS).
Ruth Chepng'etich is a Kenyan road runner who is the current women's world record holder in the marathon, with a time of 2:09:56 set at the 2024 Chicago Marathon. Chepng'etich is the 2019 world champion in the marathon, and is a three time winner of the Chicago Marathon, having won in 2021, 2022 and 2024, where she set the world record. She is the first woman to break the 2:11 and 2:10 barriers in the marathon, and also holds the third-fastest mark of all time for the half marathon, at 1 hour 4 minutes and 2 seconds.
Rie Matsuoka is a Japanese long-distance runner. In 2001, she competed in the women's marathon at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She finished in 22nd place. In 2003, she competed in the women's marathon at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics held in Paris, France. She did not finish her race.
