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.
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.
Kenenisa Bekele is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5000-metre and 10000-metre from 2004 (5,000m) and 2005 (10,000m) until 2020. He won the gold medal in both the 5000 m and 10,000 m events at the 2008 Summer Olympics. At the 2004 Olympics, he won the gold medal in the 10,000 m and the silver medal in the 5000 m.
Joan Benoit Samuelson is an American marathon runner who was the first women's Olympic Games marathon champion, winning the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She held the fastest time for an American woman at the Chicago Marathon for 32 years after winning the race in 1985. Her time at the Boston Marathon was the fastest time by an American woman at that race for 28 years. She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 2000.
An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of 42.195 kilometres. Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of 50 kilometres (31 mi) to over 100 kilometres (62 mi). 50k and 100k are both World Athletics record distances, but some 100 miles (160 km) races are among the oldest and most prestigious events, especially in North America. Around 100 miles is typically the longest course distance raced in under 24 hours but there are also longer multi-day races of 200 miles (320 km) or more, sometimes raced in stages with breaks for sleep. While some ultras are road races, many take place on trails, leading to a large overlap with the sports of trail running and mountain running.
Land's End to John o' Groats is the traversal of the whole length of the island of Great Britain between two extremities, in the southwest and northeast. The traditional distance by road is 874 miles (1,407 km) and takes most cyclists 10 to 14 days; the record for running the route is nine days. Off-road walkers typically walk about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) and take two or three months for the expedition. Signposts indicate the traditional distance at each end.
Eliud Kipchoge is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes in the marathon and formerly competed at the 5000 metre distance. He is the 2016 and 2020 Olympic marathon champion, and holds the world record in the marathon with a time of 2:01:39 set at the 2018 Berlin Marathon. His run broke the previous world record by 1 minute and 18 seconds. He is widely regarded as the greatest ever marathon runner and one of the greatest sportsmen in history.
Don Kern is an adventure runner, IT Consultant, freelance writer, and the director of the Metro Health Grand Rapids Marathon. He has run 325 marathons or longer races, in each of fifty states of the USA twice, in thirty-two countries, and at the North Pole. On January 22, 2002, he also completed a half-marathon on the South Pole as a part of the Adventure Network's inaugural South Pole Marathon. In 2007 he embarked on a quest to set a world record by completing marathons on each of the seven continents in the shortest period of time, but while completing them in 35 days was beaten to the record by Richard Takata of Canada. A second attempt later in 2007 was unsuccessful as well, due to a delay of eight days en route to Antarctica. The record was finally broken by Kern on 1 December 2011 in 25 days, 18 hours, 10 minutes.
Tsegaye Kebede Wordofa is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in road running events, including marathons. He quickly rose to become a prominent distance runner after his international debut at the Amsterdam Marathon in 2007. In his second year of professional running, he won the Paris Marathon, the Fukuoka Marathon and won the marathon bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The 2011 London Marathon was the 31st running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 17 April. The elite men's race was won by Kenya's Emmanuel Kipchirchir Mutai in a course record time of 2:04:40 hours and the elite women's race was won by Mary Jepkosgei Keitany, also of Kenya, in 2:19:19.
The North Pole Marathon is run over the classic 42.195 km (26.219 mi) marathon distance at the North Pole. The race is run on small, 4.22 km (2.62 mi) loop about 10 times over hard snow or the frozen ice of the Arctic Ocean. There are individual competitions with male and female divisions, and a team competition for teams of three or more. There is also an option to run a half marathon.
Maria Leijerstam is a British polar adventurer. In 2013 she became the first person to cycle to the South Pole from the edge of the continent. Leijerstam started her expedition on the Ross Ice Shelf at the edge of the Antarctic continent, and cycled for 10 to 17 hours each day with no rest days, and the total distance cycled was 638 km (396 mi). Leijerstam's cycle was a three wheeled design, and she reached the pole faster than any previous skiing expedition.
The 2015 London Marathon was the 35th running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 26 April. The men's elite race was won by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and the women's race was won by Ethiopian Tigist Tufa. The 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships marathon events were also held during the race. The men's wheelchair race was won by Josh George from the United States and the women's wheelchair race was won by American Tatyana McFadden. McFadden set a course record for the second year running.
Sinead Diver is an Australian long-distance runner.
Fiona Oakes is a British distance runner who holds four world records for marathon running. In 2013, she won both the Antarctic Ice Marathon and the North Pole Marathon. She runs despite losing a kneecap due to a tumour when she was 17. Oakes has been vegan since she was 6 years old. As far as Fiona is aware, she was the first vegan woman to complete the Marathon des Sables. She runs Tower Hill Stables Animal Sanctuary, is an ambassador for The Vegan Society, and is a patron of the Captive Animals Protection Society.
Michal Kapral is a Canadian joggler based in Toronto, Ontario. He owns the world records for running the fastest marathon and half-marathon while juggling, for the fastest 10-kilometer run while juggling without a drop, and formerly held the world record for fastest marathon while pushing a stroller.
Tuedon "Tee" Omatsola-Morgan, born 3 April 1973 is a Nigerian ultramaraton runner. She has completed in over 73 marathons and has competed in 2 ultramarathons.
The 2017 London Marathon was the 37th running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 23 April. Mary Jepkosgei Keitany won the women's race, setting a new women-only marathon world record with a time of 2:17:01, while Daniel Wanjiru came first in the men's race in 2:05:48. David Weir claimed a record breaking seventh win at the London Marathon in the men's wheelchair event. The win broke a tie between Weir and Tanni Gray Thompson for the most wins at the London Marathon.
Adam John Holland is an English distance runner who has won over 300 marathons and ultra-marathons. In 2010, he became the youngest person to complete 100 marathons in Europe, doing so at the age of 23. Six years later, he set a new record for the fastest cumulative time to complete 10 marathons in 10 days, doing so in over an hour quicker than the previous record. He later beat his own record in 2017, setting a time of 27 hours, 38 minutes and 36 seconds, almost another hour quicker again. He has won more marathons and ultra-marathons than any other runner in Great Britain, and the fourth most of anyone in the world.
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.
