The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of 42.195 km, 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.
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.
Eliud Kipchoge is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon and formerly specialized at the 5000 metre distance. Widely regarded as one of the greatest marathon runners of all time, he is the 2016 and 2020 Olympic marathon champion and the world record holder in the marathon with a time of 2:01:09 set at the 2022 Berlin Marathon. He has run four of the six fastest marathons in history.
Masters M65 marathon world record progression is the progression of world record improvements of the marathon M65 division of Masters athletics. Records must be set in properly conducted, official competitions under the standing IAAF rules unless modified by World Masters Athletics. The M65 division consists of male athletes who have reached the age of 65 but have not yet reached the age of 70, so exactly from their 65th birthday to the day before their 70th birthday. Marathon running is not normally seeded into age divisions so all of these records were set in marathon race open to most other age groups.
Masters M40 marathon world record progression is the progression of world record improvements of the marathon M40 division of Masters athletics. Records must be set in properly conducted, official competitions under the standing IAAF rules unless modified by World Masters Athletics. The M40 division consists of male athletes who have reached the age of 40 but have not yet reached the age of 45, so exactly from their 40th birthday to the day before their 45th birthday. Marathon running is not normally seeded into age divisions so all of these records were set in marathon race open to most other age groups.
Masters W35 marathon world record progression is the progression of world record improvements of the marathon W35 division of Masters athletics. Records must be set in properly conducted, official competitions under the standing IAAF rules unless modified by World Masters Athletics. The W35 division consists of female athletes who have reached the age of 35 but have not yet reached the age of 40, so exactly from their 35th birthday to the day before their 40th birthday. Marathon running is not normally seeded into age divisions so all of these records were set in marathon race open to most other age groups.
Masters W45 marathon world record progression is the progression of world record improvements of the marathon W45 division of Masters athletics. Records must be set in properly conducted, official competitions under the standing IAAF rules unless modified by World Masters Athletics. The W45 division consists of female athletes who have reached the age of 45 but have not yet reached the age of 50, so exactly from their 45th birthday to the day before their 50th birthday. Marathon running is not normally seeded into age divisions so all of these records were set in marathon race open to most other age groups.
Masters W75 marathon world record progression is the progression of world record improvements of the marathon W75 division of Masters athletics. Records must be set in properly conducted, official competitions under the standing IAAF rules unless modified by World Masters Athletics. The W75 division consists of female athletes who have reached the age of 75 but have not yet reached the age of 80, so exactly from their 75th birthday to the day before their 80th birthday. Marathon running is not normally seeded into age divisions so all of these records were set in marathon races open to most other age groups.
Masters W85 marathon world record progression is the progression of world record improvements of the marathon W85 division of Masters athletics. Records must be set in properly conducted, official competitions under the standing IAAF rules unless modified by World Masters Athletics. The W85 division consists of female athletes who have reached the age of 85 but have not yet reached the age of 90, so exactly from their 85th birthday to the day before their 90th birthday. Marathon running is not normally seeded into age divisions so all of these records were set in marathon race open to most other age groups.
Masters W40 marathon world record progression is the progression of world record improvements of the marathon W40 division of Masters athletics. Records must be set in properly conducted, official competitions under the standing IAAF rules unless modified by World Masters Athletics. The W40 division consists of female athletes who have reached the age of 40 but have not yet reached the age of 45, so exactly from their 40th birthday to the day before their 45th birthday. Marathon running is not normally seeded into age divisions so all of these records were set in marathon race open to most other age groups.
Masters W80 marathon world record progression is the progression of world record improvements of the marathon W80 division of Masters athletics. Records must be set in properly conducted, official competitions under the standing IAAF rules unless modified by World Masters Athletics. The W80 division consists of female athletes who have reached the age of 80 but have not yet reached the age of 85, so exactly from their 80th birthday to the day before their 85th birthday. Marathon running is not normally seeded into age divisions so all of these records were set in marathon race open to most other age groups.
Masters M35 discus world record progression is the progression of world record improvements of the discus M35 division of Masters athletics. Records must be set in properly conducted, official competitions under the standing IAAF rules unless modified by World Masters Athletics. The M35 division consists of male athletes who have reached the age of 35 but have not yet reached the age of 40, so exactly from their 35th birthday to the day before their 40th birthday. The M35 division throws exactly the same 2 kg implement as the Open division. These competitors all threw their records in open competition.
Masters M40 discus world record progression is the progression of world record improvements of the discus M40 division of Masters athletics. Records must be set in properly conducted, official competitions under the standing IAAF rules unless modified by World Masters Athletics. The M40 division consists of male athletes who have reached the age of 40 but have not yet reached the age of 45, so exactly from their 35th birthday to the day before their 45th birthday. The M40 division throws exactly the same 2 kg implement as the Open division. These competitors all threw their records in open competition.
Masters M35 hammer throw world record progression is the progression of world record improvements of the hammer throw M35 division of Masters athletics. Records must be set in properly conducted, official competitions under the standing IAAF rules unless modified by World Masters Athletics. The M35 division consists of male athletes who have reached the age of 35 but have not yet reached the age of 40, so exactly from their 35th birthday to the day before their 40th birthday. The M35 division throws exactly the same 7.257 kg implement as the Open division. These competitors all threw their records in open competition. In 1912 Matt McGrath threw 58.34.
Masters M35 javelin throw world record progression is the progression of world record improvements of the javelin throw M35 division of Masters athletics. Records must be set in properly conducted, official competitions under the standing IAAF rules unless modified by World Masters Athletics. The M35 division consists of male athletes who have reached the age of 35 but have not yet reached the age of 40, so exactly from their 35th birthday to the day before their 40th birthday. The M35 division throws an 800 g implement. These competitors threw their world record performances in Open competition. Železný's current world record was set while winning the 2001 World Championships in Athletics.
Tigist Assefa Tessema is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, a former 800 metres specialist. After her marathon debut in April 2022, she improved by over 18 minutes and set the third-fastest mark on the world all-time list at the 2022 Berlin Marathon.
Progression records for shot put must be set in properly conducted, official competitions under the standing IAAF rules unless modified by World Masters Athletics. Divisions are based upon the age of the athlete, with the category giving a minimum and implying a maximum age. So, for example, the M35 division consists of male athletes who have reached the age of 35 but have not yet reached the age of 40, so exactly from their 35th birthday to the day before their 40th birthday.
Masters M90 marathon world record progression is the progression of world record improvements of the marathon M90 division of Masters athletics. Records must be set in properly conducted, official competitions under the standing IAAF rules unless modified by World Masters Athletics. The M90 division consists of male athletes who have reached the age of 90 but have not yet reached the age of 95, so exactly from their 90th birthday to the day before their 95th birthday. Marathon running is not normally seeded into age divisions so all of these records were set in marathon races open to most other age groups.
The 2022 Berlin Marathon was the 48th edition of the annual marathon race in Berlin, which took place on Sunday, 25 September 2022. An Elite Platinum Label marathon, it was the first of four World Marathon Majors events to be held over the span of six weeks. 45,527 runners with 34,879 finishers from 157 countries have taken part in the event.
Kenya
Ethiopia
Portugal
Sweden
New Zealand
Great Britain