The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of 42.195 kilometres, 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 throughout the world each year, with the vast majority of competitors being recreational athletes, as larger marathons can have tens of thousands of participants.
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.
The World Marathon Majors (WMM) is a championship-style competition for marathon runners that started in 2006. A points-based competition founded on six major marathon races recognised as the most high-profile on the calendar, the series comprises annual races for the cities of Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York. In addition, each edition of the series recognises and includes the results of the major global championship marathon held in that year, usually on a one-off lapped course. These races are the biennial World Athletics Championships Marathon, and the quadrennial Olympic Games Marathon.
The African Championships in Athletics is a continental athletics event organized by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), the continental association for the sport in Africa. Since its inaugural edition in 1979 it was at first organised intermittently with nine editions held in fourteen years until 1993. Following the tenth edition in 1996 it has been organised biennially on even years, and is always held in the same year as the Summer Olympics. The 21st edition was held in Asaba, Nigeria in August 2018.
The 10K run is a long-distance road running competition over a distance of ten kilometres. Also referred to as the 10K road race, 10 km, or simply 10K, it is one of the most common types of road running event, alongside the shorter 5K and longer half marathon and marathon. It is usually distinguished from the 10,000 metres track running event by stating the distance in kilometres, rather than metres.
Madison de Rozario, is an Australian Paralympic athlete and wheelchair racer who specialises in middle and long-distance events. She competed at the 2008 Beijing, 2012 London, 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympics, winning two gold medals, three silver and a bronze. She has also won ten medals at the World Para Athletics Championships and two gold at the Commonwealth Games. De Rozario holds the world record in the Women's 800m T53 and formerly in the Women's 1500m T53/54.
Michael Roeger is an Australian T46 athletics competitor. He competed at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympics athletics in middle distance and marathon running events. He has won one gold and three bronze medals at the IPC Athletics World Championships and a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. His gold in the Men's T46 marathon at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championshipswas held as part of the London Marathon, set a new world record.
Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics were held during the last ten days of the Games. They were due to be held from 31 July – 9 August 2020, at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the games were postponed to 2021, with the track and field events set for 30 July – 8 August. The sport of athletics at these Games was split into three distinct sets of events: track and field events, remaining in Tokyo, and road running events and racewalking events, moved to Sapporo. A total of 48 events were held, one more than in 2016, with the addition of a mixed relay event.
Bashir Abdi is a Somali-born Belgian athlete who specializes in long-distance running. He won the bronze medal in the marathon at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He was also the silver medalist at the 2018 European Athletics Championships in the 10,000 metres event.
The 2022 World Athletics Championships, the eighteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships, are scheduled to be held in 2022 in Eugene, Oregon, United States from July 15–24, 2022.
For the athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics competitions, the following qualification systems are in place. Qualification ended on 29 June 2021, but for marathon and 50 km race walking, it already ended on 31 May 2021. Some 1900 athletes, from 196 countries, will compete. 103 countries are qualified also through Universality places.
The men's marathon event at the 2020 Summer Olympics started at 07:00 on 8 August 2021 in Sapporo, Japan. 106 athletes from 46 nations competed. The previous Olympic champion, Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, successfully defended his title, with Dutch and Belgian athletes Abdi Nageeye and Bashir Abdi gaining silver and bronze, respectively. Kipchoge was the third man to repeat as Olympic marathon champion, after Abebe Bikila and Waldemar Cierpinski. The Netherlands and Belgium earned their first men's marathon medals since 1980 and 1976, respectively.
The women's marathon event at the 2020 Summer Olympics started at 06:00 on 7 August 2021 in Sapporo. Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya won gold in 2:27:20 followed by world record holder and Kenyan teammate Brigid Kosgei with silver, and American Molly Seidel winning the bronze medal in only her third marathon race.
The 2021 London Marathon was the 41st running of the annual London Marathon on 3 October 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the race was postponed from April until October to maximise the chances of a mass participation event.
Aaron Pike is an American athlete who competes in wheelchair racing, biathlon, and cross-country skiing. He has competed at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympics, and the 2014 and 2018 Winter Paralympics. Pike finished third at the 2021 Chicago Marathon, and fourth at the 2018 and 2019 New York City Marathons as well as the 2021 Boston Marathon.
