Marathon World Record: From 2:55 to 1:59 in 118 Years

01Marathon world record: from 2:55:18 to 1:59:30

London, July 24, 1908. The American Johnny Hayes wins the Olympic marathon in 2:55:18 over 26.2 miles (42.195 km), a distance that would not become the standard until 1921, Olympedia reminds us. The progression tables, including the federation's, start with him.

But “world record” is a recent term. On the road, no two courses are alike: according to its statistics handbook, the IAAF (now World Athletics) only accepted “world best performances” in the marathon in 2003, and world records in 2004. When Paul Tergat runs 2:04:55 in Berlin on September 28, 2003, it headlines a “new world best performance.”

Before him, a marker: the Australian Derek Clayton, 2:09:36 at Fukuoka on December 3, 1967, the first man under 2:10.

02Berlin, the record factory

Nine times between 1998 and 2022, the men's world best fell in Berlin, according to Athletics Weekly's list: Gebrselassie (2:04:26 in 2007, then 2:03:59 in 2008), Kimetto (2:02:57 in 2014), and above all Eliud Kipchoge, 2:01:39 in 2018, then 2:01:09 in 2022.

Kipchoge also went under two hours, in Vienna in 2019: 1:59:40. Not a record: a race staged for the occasion, with pacers taking turns. It does not count.

03Kelvin Kiptum, 2:00:35

Chicago, October 8, 2023. Kelvin Kiptum goes through the half in 1:00:48 and finishes in 2:00:35: 34 seconds better than Kipchoge, nearly three and a half minutes ahead of the runner-up. The first man under 2:01 in a marathon eligible for records.

On February 11, 2024, he dies in a road accident in Kenya, with his coach Gervais Hakizimana. He was 24. World Athletics had ratified his record just a few days earlier.

04Sawe goes under two hours

London, April 26, 2026. Sabastian Sawe goes through the half in 1:00:29, then makes the difference with a mile to go: 1:59:30, 65 seconds faster than Kiptum. Yomif Kejelcha is second in 1:59:41, Jacob Kiplimo third in 2:00:28. The first marathon under two hours in a race where records are accepted. “It is a day to remember for me and my family,” Sawe says. World Athletics ratifies the record in July 2026.

Nothing has moved since. In Chicago on October 11, Amos Kipruto won in 2:01:09: the fifth-best performance in history, not a record.

05Women's marathon world record: mixed or women-only

Paula Radcliffe held the mixed record (with male pacers) for a long time: 2:15:25 in London in 2003. Brigid Kosgei broke it in Chicago, 2:14:04 on October 13, 2019. Tigst Assefa went down to 2:11:53 in Berlin in 2023. Then Ruth Chepngetich, Chicago 2024: 2:09:56, the first woman under 2:10. Record ratified by World Athletics.

On October 23, 2025, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) suspends her for three years for a banned substance, hydrochlorothiazide, detected in a sample taken on March 14, 2025. Her record, set before that test, stands, the AIU specifies, and its investigation continues. As of mid-October 2026, it is still on the lists.

World Athletics also keeps a “women-only” record, without male pacers: 2:15:41 for Assefa in London on April 26, 2026, also ratified. In late September in Berlin, she is still on world-record pace at 40 km, then slows with a ruptured Achilles tendon: 2:11:04. No record.