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. Kipchoge is the 2016 and 2020 Olympic marathon champion, and was the world record holder in the marathon from 2018 to 2023, until that record was broken by Kelvin Kiptum at the 2023 Chicago Marathon. Kipchoge has run four of the 10 fastest marathons in history.
Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah is a Somali-British former 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.
Stephanie April "Steph" Twell is a British middle- and long-distance runner who competed at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She trains at Aldershot, Farnham & District AC. She won the 1500 metres at the 2008 World Junior Championships, and is a three-time winner of the European Junior Cross Country Championships (2006–2008), as well as being part of four winning Great Britain teams. Representing Scotland, she won a bronze medal in the 1500 metres at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
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.
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.
Sifan Hassan is a Dutch middle- and long-distance runner. She is most recognized for her versatility in running championship and world-leading performances in widely disparate distances. She completed an unprecedented triple at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, winning gold medals in both the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres and a bronze medal for the 1,500 metres. Hassan is the only athlete in Olympic history to win medals across a middle-distance event and both long-distance races in a single Games. She is only the second of three women to complete an Olympic distance double. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Hassan secured a bronze medal in both the women's 5,000 m and 10,000 m events and gold in the women's marathon, becoming the only woman to win the Olympic gold medal in the 5,000 metres, 10,000 metres and Marathon races.
Alphonce Felix Simbu is a Tanzanian long distance runner who specialises in the marathon. He competed in the marathon event at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing, China. He finished 12th with a time of 2:16:58.
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 Irish-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 an Israeli Olympic runner. Born in Kenya, she represents Israel internationally. 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.
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.
Brigid Jepchirchir Kosgei is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon. She won the 2018 and 2019 Chicago Marathons, the 2019 and 2020 London Marathons and the 2021 Tokyo Marathon. Kosgei was the marathon world record holder for women running in a mixed-sex race, with a time of 2:14:04 achieved on 13 October 2019 at the Chicago Marathon. She won the silver medal in the marathon event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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." These "super shoes" became the focus of claims that they were a form of technology doping and that they provided athletes an unfair advantage.
Northern Ireland 
Ireland 