Kenenisa Bekele Beyecha is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5,000-metre and 10,000-metre from 2004 until 2020. He won the gold medal in both the 5,000 m and 10,000 m events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At the 2004 Olympics, he won the gold medal in the 10,000 m and the silver medal in the 5,000 m.
St Malachy's College, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is the oldest Catholic diocesan college in Ulster. The college's alumni and students are known as Malachians.
Eliud Kipchoge is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon and formerly specialized in the 5000 metres. Regarded as one of the greatest marathon runners of all time, he is the 2016 and 2020 Olympic marathon champion, and was the world record holder in the marathon from 2018 to 2023, with a time of 2:01:09 set at the 2022 Berlin Marathon, until that record was broken by Kelvin Kiptum at the 2023 Chicago Marathon with a time of 2:00:35. He has run four of the 10 fastest marathons in history.
Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah is a Somali-born British retired long-distance runner. Considered one of the greatest runners of all time, his ten global championship gold medals make him the most successful male track distance runner in the history of the sport, and he is the most successful British track athlete in modern Olympic Games history.
The following tables are an overview of all current national records in the marathon, as compiled by World Athletics and other authoritative sources of road racing statistics.
Jason Smyth is an Irish retired sprint runner. He competes in the T13 disability sport classification as he is legally blind, with his central vision being affected by Stargardt's disease; he also competes in elite non-Paralympic competition. As of July 2014, Smyth holds T13 World records in the 100m and 200m events.
Feyisa Lilesa is an Oromo long-distance runner from Ethiopia. He became the youngest man to run under 2:06 when he ran 2:05:23 in the men's marathon at the 2010 Rotterdam Marathon. He set his personal best of 2:04:52 in the marathon when he came in second place at the 2012 Chicago Marathon.
Paul Pollock is an Irish Marathon runner from Holywood, Northern Ireland. He competed at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, finishing the marathon in 32nd position, in a time of 2.16.24. He was the first Irishman home, followed by his teammates Kevin Seaward and Mick Clohisey. His time was the third-fastest by an Irish runner at an Olympic game. He also competed in the men's marathon at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan.
Mark Gleghorne is a field hockey player from Northern Ireland who has represented Ireland, England and Great Britain at international level. He represented Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Gleghorne was a member of the England teams that won the bronze medals at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games and at the 2017 Men's EuroHockey Nations Championship. He also represented England at the 2014 and 2018 Men's Hockey World Cups. At club level, Gleghorne was a member of the Instonians team that won the Irish Senior Cup in both 2002 and 2004. He was also a member of the Punjab Warriors team that won the 2016 Hockey India League title. Gleghorne is a member of a family of field hockey internationals. His younger brother, Paul, is an Ireland international. Two of his aunts, Margaret Gleghorne and Jackie McWilliams, were also Ireland and Great Britain women's internationals.
Michelle Finn is an Irish runner competing in the 3000 metres steeplechase. She represented Ireland in the 3,000 metres steeplechase at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio; she finished 11th in her heat. Previously she had also represented Ireland at the 2015 World Championships.
Sinead Diver is an Australian long-distance runner.
Callum Robert Hawkins is a British distance runner, who competed in the marathon at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He is the Scottish record holder in the marathon and the British all-time number three at that distance behind Mo Farah and Steve Jones. Hawkins is also the all-time Great Britain number two in the half marathon. He is the Great Scottish Run course record holder and was the first British man to win that event in 23 years.
Ciara Mageean is a middle-distance runner from Portaferry in Northern Ireland who specialises in the 1500 metres. She is the 2024 European Athletics Championships gold medalist at the distance, the first individual Irish European champion since Sonia O'Sullivan.
Lonah Korlima Chemtai Salpeter is a Kenyan-born Israeli Olympic runner. She won the bronze medal in the marathon at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. At the European Athletics Championships in the 10,000 metres, Salpeter won the gold medal in 2018, and earned a bronze medal in 2022. She won the 2020 Tokyo Marathon, won the silver medal at the 2022 New York City Marathon, and finished third at the 2023 Boston Marathon.
Mick Clohisey is an Irish marathon runner.
Maru Teferi is an Ethiopian-born Israeli marathon and half marathon runner, and an Olympian. He won a silver medal in men's marathon at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, a silver medal in marathon at the 2022 European Athletics Championships, a gold medal in the 2022 European Marathon Cup, and the gold medal at the 2022 Fukuoka Marathon. He represented Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's marathon, and again represented Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the 2020 Olympic Marathon. He has set Israeli records in both the marathon and half marathon. Teferi will represent Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in the men's marathon on 10 August 2024.
Ageze Guadie is an Ethiopian-born Israeli Olympic marathon runner.
Alexandra Bell is a British athlete who competed for Great Britain in the 800 metres event at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics, and for England at the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Stephen Scullion is an Irish middle-distance and long-distance runner.
In 2017, Nike released the Nike Zoom Vaporfly Elite shoe, which was advertised as "ultra-lightweight, soft and capable of providing up to 85-percent energy return." This shoe became the focus of claims that they were a form of technology doping and that they provided athletes an unfair advantage.
Northern Ireland 
Ireland 