| Athletics Marathon | |
|---|---|
.jpeg) Competitors during the 2013 Athens Classic Authentic Marathon | |
| World records | |
| Men |  Kelvin Kiptum (KEN) 2:00:35 (2023) |
| Women | Mx: Ruth Chepng'etich (KEN) 2:09:56 (2024)
Wo: Peres Jepchirchir (KEN) 2:16:16 (2024) |
| Olympic records | |
| Men |  Tamirat Tola (ETH) 2:06:26 (2024) |
| Women |  Sifan Hassan (NED) 2:22:55 (2024) |
| World Championship records | |
| Men | Tamirat Tola (ETH) 2:05:36 (2022) |
| Women | Gotytom Gebreslase (ETH) 2:18:11 (2022) |
The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of 42km 195m (c. 26mi 385yd),[1] 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 worldwide each year, with the vast majority of competitors being recreational athletes, as larger marathons can have tens of thousands of participants.[2]
A creation of the French philologist Michel Bréal inspired by a story from Ancient Greece, the marathon was one of the original modern Olympic events in 1896 in Athens. The distance did not become standardized until 1921. The distance is also included in the World Athletics Championships, which began in 1983. It is the only running road race included in both championship competitions (walking races on the roads are also contested in both).
- ^ "IAAF Competition Rules for Road Races". International Association of Athletics Federations. 2009. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
- ^ "Marathons in history with >30,000 finishers". AIMS: World Running. Association of International Marathons and Distance Races. 11 July 2016. Archived from the original on 10 March 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2017.