This list is a chronological progression of record times for the marathon. World records in the marathon are now ratified by World Athletics, the international governing body for the sport of athletics.
The Nagoya Women's Marathon (名古屋ウィメンズマラソン), named Nagoya International Women's Marathon until the 2010 race, is an annual marathon race for female runners over the classic distance of 42 km and 195 metres, held in Nagoya, Japan in early March every year. It holds World Athletics Platinum road race status. It is held on the same day as the Nagoya City Marathon, an event consisting of a half marathon (21.0975 km) and a quarter marathon (10.5 km), with both races open to both males and females.
Kathrine Virginia Switzer is an American marathon runner, author, and television commentator.
Germán Silva Martínez is a Mexican former long-distance runner who specialized in the marathon. His foremost achievements were back-to-back victories at the New York City Marathon in 1994 and 1995. He represented Mexico twice at the Summer Olympics, in 1992 and 1996. He also competed at the World Championships in Athletics on two occasions. His personal best for the marathon is two hours, eight minutes, and 56 seconds.
The California International Marathon (CIM) is an annual road marathon held in Northern California since 1983. The net downhill course starts at Folsom Dam and ends at the State Capitol in Sacramento. The race is organized by the Sacramento Running Association.
Ernst van Aaken was a German sports physician and athletics trainer. Van Aaken became known as the "Running Doctor" and was the founder of the training method called the Waldnieler Dauerlauf. He is generally recognized as the founder of the long slow distance method of endurance training.
Violet Stewart Louisa Piercy was an English long-distance runner who is recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations as having set the first women's world best in the marathon on 3 October 1926 with a time of 3:40:22. Piercy was reported to have run unofficially and her mark was set on the Polytechnic Marathon course between Windsor and London.
Maureen "Moe" Wilton is a former Canadian long-distance runner who is recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations as having set a world best in the marathon on May 6, 1967, with a time of 3:15:23 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Wilton, who started running when she was nine years old, was 13 when she set the mark; it was her first marathon and run on an unpaved Eastern Canadian Marathon Championships course. Her time broke the previous record, set in 1964, by more than four minutes.
Jacqueline Hansen is a former long-distance runner from the United States who is recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations as having set a world best in the marathon on two occasions.
The New York Mini 10K is an annual 10-kilometer road running competition for women that takes place in Central Park, New York City, in the United States. The race has been organised by New York Road Runners since 1972. The competition has both an elite-level race and a fun run, both of which accounted for a total of 5189 finishers in 2010.
Kim Merritt is a former American long-distance runner who competed in the marathon. Her career coincided with the development of women's running in the United States and she was at the forefront of distance running in the mid-1970s.
The Seoul International Marathon, also known as the Dong-A Ilbo Seoul Marathon or Seoul Marathon is an annual marathon race that takes place in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of two annual races over the 42.195 km classic distance in the city, alongside the JoongAng Seoul Marathon which is held in November. It holds World Athletics Platinum Label Road Race status. First held in 1931, it is the third longest-running road running competition in Asia after the Hakone Ekiden and Chugoku Yamaguchi Ekiden in Japan.
Anne Rochelle Steely Ramirez, née Anne Rochelle Steely, is a former long-distance runner who competed internationally for the United States. She specialized in the 3,000 meters on the track and later competed in road running events.
The Philadelphia Distanced Run is an annual half marathon road running event which takes place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States on the third Sunday of September.
Martha "Marty" Cooksey is an American former long-distance runner who competed in events ranging from 5000 meters to the marathon. She achieved her marathon best time of 2:35:42 hours at the American Olympic Trials in 1984.
John Duncan Semple was a Scottish-American runner, physical therapist, trainer, and sports official. In 1967, he attained worldwide notoriety as a race official for the Boston Marathon, when he repeatedly assaulted 20 year old marathon runner Kathrine Switzer and knocked down her coach when he tried to protect her. Switzer was officially entered in the race in accordance with the Boston Marathon's rule book which at that time made no mention of sex. Semple subsequently claimed that amateur rules banned women racing for more than 1.5 miles (2.4 km). He subsequently oversaw implementation of qualifying times in 1970 and, in response to lobbying and rule changes by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), the implementation of a separate women's race in 1972.
The Mexico City Marathon is an annual road running event over the marathon distance 42.19 kilometres (26.22 mi) which is held on the streets of Mexico City in late August or early September that in 2018 received IAAF Gold Label Status.
The 1983 IAAF World Women's Road Race Championships was the inaugural edition of the annual international road running competition organised by the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF). The competition was hosted by the United States on December 3, 1983 in San Diego, California and featured one race only: a 10k run for women. There were individual and team awards available, with the national team rankings being decided by the combined score of a team's three best athletes. Countries with fewer than three finishers were not ranked.
Mariana Chirilă is a Romanian female distance runner who competed in events ranging from 800 metres to the marathon. Individually she won gold medals in the 3000 metres at the 1986 Goodwill Games and the 1992 Balkan Athletics Championships, and won the senior race at the Balkan Cross Country Championships in 1985. She represented her country at the European Athletics Championships in 1986, twice at the Universiade, and twice at the IAAF World Women's Road Race Championships. Her highest global ranking was eighth in the 3000 m for the 1986 season.
The 25K run is a long distance running footrace that is between the distance of a half marathon and a marathon. It was formerly an official world record distance in road running by World Athletics, but has since been downgraded to world best status. Separately, the Association of Road Racing Statisticians retains world records in the 25K distance. The ARRS holds different standards for records than World Athletics, with exclusions for certain point-to-point races and mixed sex races. As a result its women's world record is 1:26:34 by Nancy Conz, set in 1982.
Marty Cooksey (USA)
Joyce Smith (GBR)
Lorraine Moller (NZL)