Paula Jane Radcliffe MBE is a former British long-distance runner. She is a three-time winner of the London Marathon, three-time New York Marathon champion, the 2002 Chicago Marathon winner and the 2005 World Champion in the Marathon from Helsinki. She was previously the fastest female marathoner of all time, and held the Women's World Marathon Record with a time of 2:15:25 for 16 years from 2003 to 2019 when it was broken by Brigid Kosgei.
Naoko Takahashi is a retired Japanese long-distance runner and Olympic gold medal-winning marathoner. She won the gold medal in the marathon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and at the 2001 Berlin Marathon she became the first woman to complete a marathon in under 2 hours and 20 minutes.
Fatuma Roba is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, best known for being the first African woman to win a gold medal in the women's Olympic marathon race, at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and for winning three successive Boston Marathons.
Priscah Jepleting Cherono, née Ngetich is a Kenyan professional runner who specialises in the 5000 metres and cross-country running. She represented Kenya in the 5000 m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She is the Kenyan record holder over the two miles distance.
Maria Manuela Machado is a former Portuguese long-distance runner, who was particularly successful when running the marathon. Unlike many other marathoners, she did not focus on running lucrative city marathons. Instead, she participated in major competitions.
Galina Yevgeniyevna Bogomolova is a Russian long-distance runner, who specializes in the 10,000 metres and the marathon.
Ulrike Maisch is a long-distance runner from Germany, who won the women's marathon at the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden. Her husband is also running and is called Richard Friedrich who won the Munich Marathon in 2011.
Joan Jepkorir Aiyabei is a Kenyan long-distance runner.
Lyudmila Nikolayevna Petrova is a Russian long-distance runner, who represented her native country at two Summer Olympics: 1996 and 2004. She won the 2000 edition of the New York City Marathon.
Ana Dulce Ferreira FélixComM is a Portuguese long distance runner who competes in track, cross country, and road running events. She ran the Olympic marathon in 2012 and 2016 and placed 21st and 16th, respectively.
Anikó Kálovics is a Hungarian runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres and the marathon. She is a four-time Olympian (2000–2012) and has won both the Venice Marathon and Italian Marathon.
Katalin Szentgyörgyi is a retired Hungarian long-distance runner who specialized in the 5000 metres.
Desiree "Des" Nicole Linden is an American long-distance runner. She represented the United States in the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics women's marathon. In 2018, she won the Boston Marathon, becoming the first American in 33 years to win the woman's category in the event. She holds the women's 50K world record of 2:59:54.
Sara Hall is a professional American distance runner for ASICS. Hall's personal best time for the marathon is 2:20:32 set at the Marathon Project in Chandler, Arizona on December 22, 2020, making her the third-fastest American woman in history. She is the second-fastest American woman ever to run the half marathon, running 1:07:15 on January 16, 2022–an American record at the time.
Diana Lobačevskė is a Lithuanian long-distance runner who specialises in marathon and half marathon races.
Alena Vinnitskaya is a Belarusian long-distance runner who specializes in the marathon.
Veronica Inglese is an Italian long-distance runner. She won a silver medal at the 2016 European Athletics Championships.
Sara Dossena is an Italian long-distance runner, who won a gold medal at the 2018 Mediterranean Games. She also won three national championships. In 2019, she competed in the women's marathon at the 2019 World Athletics Championships held in Doha, Qatar. She did not finish her race.
Dolshi Tesfu is an Eritrean long-distance runner. She competed in the senior women's race at the 2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships held in Aarhus, Denmark. She finished in 38th place.
Rie Matsuoka is a Japanese long-distance runner. In 2001, she competed in the women's marathon at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She finished in 22nd place. In 2003, she competed in the women's marathon at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics held in Paris, France. She did not finish her race.
Italy 
