ROAD RUNNING
Progression of the World Records
The Men ’ s Record
The first official World Record for the marathon was run in 1908 at the London Olympics , with American Johnny Hayes taking the gold medal in 2:55:18 . Italian Dorando Pietri had actually finished first in 2:54:46 , but was disqualified for receiving assistance from race officials after he had collapsed multiple times within sight of the finish line . It actually took him more than 10 minutes to cover the final 350m , meaning he would have clocked a time around 2:44 if he had not succumbed to fatigue and dehydration . ( South Africa ’ s Charles Hefferon , who had led for much of the race , finished third in 2:56:06 , and was subsequently promoted to the silver medal position .)
By 1925 the World Record had dipped under 2:30 , with American Albert Michelsen posting a 2:29:01 in the Port Chester Marathon , and in 1953 Jim Peters of Great Britain broke new ground with the first sub-2:20 as he clocked 2:18:40 at the Polytechnic Marathon in the UK , for the second of his eventual four World Records at this distance . Fast-forward to 1967 and Aussie Derek Clayton ran the first sub-2:10 , winning the Fukuoka Marathon in Japan in 2:09:36 .
The record inched downwards over the next 21 years , culminating in the 2:06:50 run by Ethiopian Belayneh Dinsmao in Rotterdam in 1988 , a record that stood
Men ’ s World Records in the Last 25 Years
2:06:05 Ronaldo da Costa ( Brazil ) Berlin 20 Sep 1998 2:05:42 Khalid Khannouchi ( Morocco ) Chicago 24 Oct 1999 2:05:38 Khalid Khannouchi ( USA ) London 14 Apr 2002 2:04:55 Paul Tergat ( Kenya ) Berlin 28 Sep 2003 2:04:26 Haile Gebrselassie ( Ethiopia ) Berlin 30 Sep 2007 2:03:59 Haile Gebrselassie ( Ethiopia ) Berlin 28 Sep 2008 2:03:38 Patrick Makau ( Kenya ) Berlin 25 Sep 2011 2:03:23 Wilson Kipsang ( Kenya ) Berlin 29 Sep 2013 2:02:57 Dennis Kimetto ( Kenya ) Berlin 28 Sep 2014 2:01:39 Eliud Kipchoge ( Kenya ) Berlin 16 Sep 2018 2:01:09 Eliud Kipchoge ( Kenya ) Berlin 25 Sep 2022
2:00:35 Kelvin Kiptum ( Kenya ) Chicago 8 Oct 2023
for just over 10 years until Ronaldo da Costa of Brazil set a new global best of 2:06:05 . The Brazilian also became the first man to go sub-2-hours for 40km , with a time of 1:59:55 at that mark
Over the 25 years since then , the men ’ s record has been improved just 11 times , but has steadily crept closer and close to that two-hour mark that is now
considered the next barrier for humans to overcome , much like the four-minute mile used to be . Of course , Eliud Kipchoge did run a sub-2 in a specially staged event in 2021 , but that was with pacesetters , lead vehicles and other aids , so it does not count as an official World Record . Still , given the trajectory of the men ’ s record , it does seem only a matter of time before the men officially run sub-2 in a record-legal race .
Jim Peters
Dennis Kimetto
The Women ’ s Record
Frenchwoman Marie-Louise Ledru is the first female athlete credited with completing a standard marathon in 1918 , when she clocked 5:40 in Tour de Paris Marathon . Opportunities for women to race the marathon were rare in subsequent years , and several faster times were reportedly run on short courses , or thought to have been clocked during arranged time trials instead of record-legal races . As a result , the 3:37:07 run by Britain ’ s Dale Greig in 1964 is considered by some to be the first true world mark for women .
American Elizabeth Bonner posted the first sub- 3:00 when she clocked 2:55:22 in the 1971 New York Marathon , and the first sub-2:30 was also run in New York , this time by Grete Waitz in 1979 , when she clocked 2:27:32 . However , the New York course of those year is thought to have been short , so the first sub-2:30 may have been Brit Joyce Smith ’ s 2:29:57 at the 1981 London Marathon . By 1985 , the record was down to 2:21:06 , held by Norway ’ s Ingrid Kristiansen , and that would stand for two days shy of 13 years , when Kenyan Tegla Loroupe took the mark down to 2:20:47 in Rotterdam .
Eliud Kipchoge
Women ’ s World Records in the Last 25 Years
2:20:47 Tegla Loroupe ( Kenya ) Rotterdam Marathon 19 April 1998 2:20:43 Tegla Loroupe ( Kenya ) Berlin Marathon 26 September 1999 2:19:46 Naoko Takahashi ( Japan ) Berlin Marathon 30 September 2001 2:18:47 Catherine Ndereba ( Kenya ) Chicago Marathon 7 October 2001 2:17:18 Paula Radcliffe ( Great Britain ) Chicago Marathon 13 October 2002 2:15:25 ( M ) Paula Radcliffe ( Great Britain ) London Marathon 13 April 2003 2:17:42 ( W ) Paula Radcliffe ( Great Britain ) London Marathon 17 April 2005 2:17:01 ( W ) Mary Jepkosgei Keitany ( Kenya ) London Marathon 23 April 2017 2:14:04 ( M ) Brigid Kosgei ( Kenya ) Chicago Marathon 13 October 2019 2:11:53 ( M ) Tigst Assefa ( Ethiopia ) Berlin Marathon 24 September 2023 * ( M ) = mixed gender race ; ( W ) = women-only race
Mary Keitany
The first sub-2:20 followed in 2001 , a 2:19:46 run by Naoko Takahashi in Berlin , but the real shock was Brit Paula Radcliffe ’ s seemingly inhuman 2:15:25 in 2003 , which was only beaten 16 years later when Brigid Kosgei clocked 2:14:04 in Chicago . Interestingly , for a while Radcliffe ’ s 2:17:42 of 2005 was actually considered the World Record , because of an IAAF decision to recognise only times run in a women-only
Brigid Kosgei
race as a World Record , while times run in a mixedgender race would be called a World Best , but a subsequent revision by the global athletics body now sees both marks recognised as World Records , hence Tigst Assefa ’ s 2:11:53 of 2023 is the current mixedgender World Record ( subject to ratification ), while Mary Keitany ’ s 2:17:01 of 2017 remains the World Record for a women-only event .
Images : Desitlicheresguruweil / Wikimedia , Julian Mason / Wikimedia & courtesy Racing Past AU , Berlin Marathon , Chicago Marathon
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