The fastest 42.195 km ever run
World records, course records at the World Marathon Majors, and how the marathon got faster decade by decade.
World records
Current ratified marathon world records (as of early 2026):
| Category | Time | Athlete | Where | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | 2:00:35 | Kelvin Kiptum (KEN) | Chicago | October 2023 |
| Women (mixed race) | 2:09:56 | Ruth Chepng'etich (KEN) | Chicago | October 2024 |
| Women (women-only race) | 2:15:50 | Peres Jepchirchir (KEN) | London | April 2024 |
World Athletics ratifies marks separately for "mixed" races (men and women on course together, where men can act as pacemakers) and "women-only" races. Both are world records; they answer different questions.
How records have progressed
The marathon has been getting roughly a minute faster per decade for most of the 20th century, with a sharp acceleration after 2017 — partly attributed to carbon-plated super-shoes, partly to higher in-race carbohydrate intake, partly to deeper East African training systems.
| Year | Men's WR | Athlete |
|---|---|---|
| 1908 | 2:55:18 | Johnny Hayes (USA) |
| 1947 | 2:25:39 | Suh Yun-bok (KOR) |
| 1967 | 2:09:36 | Derek Clayton (AUS) |
| 1981 | 2:08:18 | Robert de Castella (AUS) |
| 1998 | 2:06:05 | Ronaldo da Costa (BRA) |
| 2003 | 2:04:55 | Paul Tergat (KEN) |
| 2014 | 2:02:57 | Dennis Kimetto (KEN) |
| 2018 | 2:01:39 | Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) |
| 2022 | 2:01:09 | Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) |
| 2023 | 2:00:35 | Kelvin Kiptum (KEN) |
Course records at the Majors
The six World Marathon Majors have very different courses — Boston is hilly and point-to-point (and not record-eligible due to net elevation loss and a one-way orientation), New York is undulating, Berlin is famously flat and fast. Course records reflect those terrains.
| Major | Men's CR | Women's CR |
|---|---|---|
| Berlin | 2:01:09 — Kipchoge ('22) | 2:11:53 — Assefa ('23) |
| Chicago | 2:00:35 — Kiptum ('23) | 2:09:56 — Chepng'etich ('24) |
| London | 2:01:25 — Kiptum ('23) | 2:15:50 — Jepchirchir ('24) |
| Boston | 2:03:02 — Kipruto ('19) | 2:17:22 — Hassan ('23) |
| Tokyo | 2:02:16 — Kipruto ('24) | 2:13:44 — Sutume ('24) |
| NYC | 2:04:58 — Mutai ('11) | 2:22:31 — Keitany ('18) |
Course records change frequently. Use this as a directional reference; for the latest confirmed marks, check the host event's website.
The sub-two-hour question
For decades, breaking two hours felt asymptotic. In 2017, Nike staged its Breaking2 attempt at Monza; Kipchoge ran 2:00:25 — close, but in conditions (rotating pacers, no head-to-head competition) that disqualified it from world-record ratification.
In October 2019, in Vienna's Prater park, Kipchoge ran 1:59:40.2 in the INEOS 1:59 Challenge. Again, it was not record-eligible, but it answered the engineering question: a sub-two-hour marathon was possible.
The ratified world record then advanced from 2:01:39 (2018) to 2:00:35 (2023) in five years. A legal sub-two-hour mark looks like a question of "when," not "if."
A note on records and conditions
- Course validity. For a record to count, the course must be certified by World Athletics, with a maximum net downhill of 1 m/km and start/finish points within 50% of the race distance apart.
- Weather. Marathons are weather-dependent. The fastest times tend to come on cool, low-wind days at low elevation — which is why Berlin sees so many records.
- Shoes. Since 2020, World Athletics has limited road-shoe stack height to 40 mm and prohibited more than one carbon plate, after the previous generation of super-shoes coincided with a step-change in times.
- Pacing. Elite record attempts use professional pacemakers ("rabbits") who set splits and drop out before the finish. Without them, racing tactics produce slower times even from the same athletes.
Next: Famous Locations — where these records have been set, and where the most storied races are run.