\n|-\n|1997\n|[[Twin Cities Marathon]] \n|[[Minneapolis–Saint Paul]], [[Minnesota]]\n|bgcolor=\"gold\" | 1st\n|Marathon\n|2:14:59\n|-\n|1998\n|[[Charleston Distance Run]]\n|[[Charleston, South Carolina]] \n|bgcolor=\"gold\" | 1st\n|15 mile\n|1:14:01\n|-\n|1998\n|[[Twin Cities Marathon]] \n|[[Minneapolis–Saint Paul]], [[Minnesota]]\n|bgcolor=\"gold\" | 1st\n|Marathon\n|2:15:19\n|-\n|1998\n|[[Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Marathon]]\n|[[San Diego, California]]\n|4th\n|Marathon\n|2:12:01\n|-\n|1999\n|[[Grandma's Marathon]] \n|[[Duluth, Minnesota]]\n|bgcolor=\"gold\" | 1st\n|Marathon\n|2:13:21\n|-\n|1999\n|[[Twin Cities Marathon]]\n|[[Minneapolis–Saint Paul]], [[Minnesota]]\n|bgcolor=\"gold\" | 1st\n|Marathon\n|2:13:41\n|-\n|2002\n|[[Quad Cities Marathon]]\n|[[Quad Cities]]\n|bgcolor=\"gold\"|1st\n|Marathon\n|2:21:15\n|-\n|2004\n|[[Quad Cities Marathon]]\n|[[Quad Cities]]\n|bgcolor=\"gold\"|1st\n|Marathon\n|2:20:44\n|-\n|2004\n|[[Orange County Marathon]]\n|[[Newport Beach, California]]\n|bgcolor=\"gold\"|1st\n|Marathon\n|2:23:23\n|-\n|2005\n|[[Carlsbad Marathon]]\n|[[Carlsbad, California]]\n|bgcolor=\"gold\"|1st\n|Marathon\n|2:24:11\n\n|}"]}" id="mwMQ">
Paul Kibii Tergat is a Kenyan former professional long distance runner. He became the first Kenyan man to set the world record in the marathon in 2003, with a time of 2:04:55, and is regarded as one of the most accomplished long-distance runners of all time. Runnerworld called him the "Most comprehensive runner of all time".
Tegla Chepkite Loroupe is a Kenyan long-distance track and road runner. She is also a global spokeswoman for peace, women's rights and education. Loroupe holds the world records for 25 and 30 kilometers and previously held the world marathon record. She was the first African woman to hold the marathon World Record, which she held from 19 April 1998 until 30 September 2001. She is the three-time World Half-Marathon champion. Loroupe was also the first woman from Africa to win the New York City Marathon, which she has won twice. She has won marathons in London, Rotterdam, Hong Kong, Berlin and Rome.
The Twin Cities Marathon is a marathon in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area which normally takes place the first weekend in October. The race is often called "The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America" due to a course that winds through downtown districts, then along parkways that hug lakes and waterways all throughout dense urban forests in the neighborhoods of both cities.
Sports in Minnesota include professional teams in all major sports, Olympic Games contenders and medalists, especially in the Winter Olympics, collegiate teams in major and small-school conferences and associations and active amateur teams and individual sports. The State of Minnesota has a team in all five major professional leagues. Along with professional sports, there are numerous collegiate teams including the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and St. Thomas Tommies in NCAA Division I, as well as many others across the Minnesota public and private colleges and universities.
Sharon Jemutai Cherop is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon. She won a bronze medal at the age of sixteen in the 5000 metres at the World Junior Championships. She was the bronze medal winner in the marathon at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and won the Boston Marathon in 2012.
Svetlana Ponomarenko is a Russian long-distance runner who competes professionally in marathon races. She has a best of 2:29:55 hours for the distance. She won six consecutive marathons—going unbeaten from 2006 to 2008—winning in Frankfurt, Dallas (twice), Minneapolis, Nashville and Athens, Greece.
Ondoro Osoro is a former Kenyan long-distance runner who competed mostly in cross country and road races.
Dominic Ondoro is a Kenyan long-distance runner best known for holding the course records at Minnesota's Grandma's Marathon and the Twin Cities Marathon. He has won many other major marathons, some multiple times, such as the 2017 and 2023 Houston Marathon in Texas, his two Melbourne Marathon wins in Australia and his unrivaled four Twin Cities Marathon wins in Minneapolis-St. Paul.
Jane Kibii is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in marathon races and other road running events. She is from Moiben. Kibii has won the California International Marathon, the Twin Cities Marathon (twice), and Grandma's Marathon along with several other top 10 finishes in major marathons. Kibii has also won several competitive half marathons, and dominated fast "SacTown" 10 mile race in Sacramento, California. Her lifetime prize winnings total more than $100,000.
Joel Onwonga is a Kenyan long distance runner, best known for winning the 1996 Twin Cities Marathon in 2:13:13.
Nicole Aish is a long distance runner who is a U.S. National Championship Marathon winner and a bronze medalist at the 2003 Pan American Games in the 5,000 metres.
Kim Pawelek Brantly is a Vietnamese-American middle- and long-distance runner. She is the woman's 1999 US Marathon Champion.
Mykola Antonenko is a Ukrainian middle- and long-distance runner, and Ukrainian national champion in the 10K. He is the winner of multiple notable road races and a top finisher in major international races.
David Kimani Mungai is a Kenyan mid- and long-distance runner.
Sally Brent is an American long-distance running athlete who broke barriers for female runners in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Brent was the winner of the inaugural Twin Cities Marathon in 1982, running the race in 2:43:50. Only a few other American women had breached the 2:45:00 mark in 1982, and just seven years earlier, it had been the woman's world record.
Christopher Kipyego is a runner from Kenya who has won multiple major marathon races, including the Mexico City Marathon in 2006 with a time of 2:17:23.
Serkalem Biset Abrha, also known as Abrha Serkalem Biset, is a runner from Ethiopia who competes in long distance running and has won several major international marathons.
Augustus Mbusya Kavutu is a Kenyan long-distance runner and marathoner who has won several long-distance races and finished in the top ten of multiple international marathons. He ran one of the fastest half-marathons in the world in 2003, clocking 1:01:19.
Vladimir Tyamchik is a Belarusian long-distance and middle-distance runner who was the 1999 national champion in the 10,000 meters. He was also represented his nation at four IAAF Half Marathon World Championships and one European Cross Championship race.
Joseph Kamau is a former professional long-distance runner from Kenya who finished second in the 1997 Boston Marathon and third in the 1996 New York City Marathon.