List of marathoners explained

This is a list of marathoners who are athletes notable for their achievements in the marathon. For a list of people notable in other fields who have also run marathons, see List of marathoners who are non-running specialists.

Legend

Symbol/Column	Description
	Gold medal in the Olympics, IAAF World Championships or World Marathon Majors
	Silver medal in the Olympics, IAAF World Championships or World Marathon Majors
	Bronze medal in the Olympics, IAAF World Championships or World Marathon Majors
(#)	Placement in any major marathon competition ranked 4th or below
Name	Athlete's name
	Names in bold are current or former world record holders.
Country	Athlete's citizenship during competition
Olympics	Placement in the Olympics
IAAF WC	Medal years in the IAAF World Championships
WMM	Placement in the World Marathon Majors
1st	Marathon Victories. Number of times athlete placed first in a marathon (excludes Olympics and World Championships)
Career Best	Fastest marathon time during career
Other	Other notable information

Men

width=12%	Name	width=9%	Country	width=6%	Olympics	width=9%	IAAF WC	width=12%	WMM	width=3%	1s	width=6%	Career Best	width=40%	Other	width=3%	Ref
					5	2:07:54	First to win gold at Olympics and World Championships	^[1]
					2	2:07:54	First to win two golds at World Championships
		2004 (12) 2008			3		Two time European champion
					3		The "Duel in the Sun" with Alberto Salazar at the 1982 Boston Marathon.
Abebe Bikila		1960 1964					First black African gold medalist by winning in Rome barefoot, previous world record holder
		1988	1987		6		Two time European champion
					1	2:14:28	Boston Marathon winner
					7	2:12:13		^[2]
					7	2:07:14
Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot					2	2:05:52
		1976 1980	1983
						2:31:59	World record holder for the fastest marathon run by a totally blind man
						2:08:34	The first to run a world record under 02:10:00
Robert de Castella			1983		4	2:07:51	Former marathon world record holder; holds Australian national record
Belayneh Densamo					7	2:06:50	Held the world record for the span of 10 years.
Leonard Edelen		1964				2:14:28	In 1963, he became the first American to hold the world record since 1925.
Steve Edwards							First person to complete 500 sub 3:30:00 marathons	^[3]
Stefaan Engels							First person to complete 365 marathons in 365 days	^[4]
Martín Fiz		(4) 1996	1995 1997		3
Haile Gebrselassie					9	2:03:59		^[5]
Jaouad Gharib		2008	2003 2005			2:05:27
Rodolfo Gómez		(19) 1976 (6) 1980			3	2:09:33
Ryan Hall		(10) 2008 (DNF) 2012				2:04:58
Hal Higdon							Freelance writer for Runner's World; a founder of Road Runners Club of America
Ron Hill		1964 1972				2:09:28
Hwang Young-Cho		1992			3	2:08:09
Juma Ikangaa		(6) 1984 (7) 1988 (34) 1992
Steve Jones					4	2:07:13	Former marathon world record holder
Veikko Karvonen		(5) 1952
Yuki Kawauchi			(18) 2011, 2013		10	2:07:27	More than 100 sub 2:20 marathons
Tsegaye Kebede		2008	2009	(5) 2008/2009 2009/2010	4	2:05:18
Meb Keflezighi		2004			1	2:08:37
Khalid Khannouchi					5	2:05:42	Former marathon world record holder
Dennis Kipruto Kimetto						2:02:57	Former marathon world record holder
Eliud Kipchoge		2016				2:01:39	Current marathon world record holder (2018)
Stephen Kiprotich		2012	2013			2:07:20
Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich		2012				2:03:42	Former marathon world record holder
Abel Kirui		2012	2009 2011			2:06:51
Hannes Kolehmainen		1920
Lee Bong-Ju		1996				2:07:20	Winner of the Boston Marathon in 2001
Martin Lel				2007/2008 2006/2007	5	2:05:15
Vanderlei de Lima		2004
Tom Longboat
Carlos Lopes		1984				2:07:12	Former marathon world record holder
Frederick Lorz					1		Disqualified from 1904 Olympics after crossing first, but legitimately won the Boston Marathon a year later
Spyridon Louis		1896					First Olympic gold medalist for the marathon
Patrick Makau					1	2:03:38	Former marathon world record holder
Deriba Merga					2	2:06:39
Greg Meyer					2	2:09:00	Won 1983 Boston Marathon
Franjo Mihalić		1956			1	2:21:24
Alain Mimoun		1956
Steve Moneghetti		(5) 1988 1992 1996 (10) 2000	1997
Koichi Morishita		1992			2	2:08:53
Emmanuel Kipchirchir Mutai		2009			1
Takeyuki Nakayama		(4) 1988 (4) 1992			5	2:08:15
Gerard Nijboer		1980				2:09:01
Tsuyoshi Ogata			(12) 2003 2005 (5) 2007		1	2:08:37
Benjamín Paredes		(8) 1996 (64) 2000			2	2:10:40
Jim Peters						2:19:22	Set the World Record four times, the first person to have run a sub-2:20:00 marathon.
António Pinto		1988 1992 (14) 1996 (11) 2000			4	2:06:36	One of two holders of European record
Orlando Pizzolato		(16) 1988	(7) 1987		3	2:10:57
Hendrick Ramaala		(12) 2000	(9) 2003 (27) 2007		2	2:09:28
Julio Rey			(37) 2001 2003 (8) 2005		4	2:06:52
Bill Rodgers		(40) 1976			22	2:09:27	Posted multiple major victories in the late 1970s. Held the American record multiple times.
Alberto Salazar					4	2:08:13	Won the New York Marathon for 3 consecutive years
Marílson Gomes dos Santos					2	2:08:43	First South American to win the New York Marathon
Nobuyuki Sato			1999			2:08:48
Toshihiko Seko		(14) 1984 (9) 1988			10	2:08:27
Morio Shigematsu					6	2:12:00	Held world record June 12, 1965 – December 3, 1967
Frank Shorter		1972 1976				2:10:30	Only American to win multiple medals in the Olympic marathon
Silvio Guerra		(14) 2000			2	2:09:49	Holds Ecuadorian Marathon Record since 1997
Germán Silva		(6) 1996			2	2:08:56	Won the New York Marathon for two consecutive years
Fauja Singh							Holder of multiple records in the 90+ age group
Shigeru So					6	2:09:05
Takeshi So		(4) 1984			4	2:08:55
Sohn Kee-chung		1936			9	2:25:14	First Korean Olympic Champion in any discipline, while representing Japan. Held the World Record for the longest span of 11.5 years.
Albin Stenroos		1924
Toshinari Takaoka			(4) 2005		1	2:06:16
Hiromi Taniguchi		(8) 1992	1991		5	2:07:40
Josia Thugwane		1996 (20) 2000			4	2:07:28
Tesfaye Tola		2000				2:06:57		^[6]
Erick Wainaina		1996 2000 (7) 2004	(18) 1995		7	2:08:43	One of the few athletes in Olympic history to finish in the top 10 at three separate marathons
Samuel Wanjiru		2008		(4) 2007/2008 2008/2009 2009/2010	4	2:05:10	Holds current Olympic record
Mamo Wolde		1968 1972
Dimitrion Yordanidis							Oldest man to complete a marathon, at age 98	^[7]
Emil Zátopek		1952 (6) 1956					Won Olympic gold in his first marathon in Olympic record time
Sondre Nordstad Moen						2:05:48	First european runner to finish under 2:06:00 (Fukuoka, 2017).

Women

width=12%	Name	width=9%	Country	width=6%	Olympics	width=9%	IAAF WC	width=12%	WMM	width=3%	1st	width=6%	Career Best	width=40%	Other	width=3%	Ref
Tomoe Abe			1993		3	2:26:09		Holder of IAAF 100 km Road Women's World Record
Yukiko Akaba			(5) 2011			2:24:08
Elfenesh Alemu		(6) 2000 (4) 2004			3	2:24:29
Yuko Arimori		1992 1996			2	2:26:39
Junko Asari			1993		3	2:26:10
Joan Benoit		1984			3	2:21:21	First female gold medalist in women's marathon
Carla Beurskens		(22) 1984 (34) 1988	(17) 1987		14	2:28:27
Joyce Chepchumba		2000				2:23:22
Masako Chiba			2003		4	2:21:45
Zhou Chunxiu		2008				2:19:51
Constantina Diţă-Tomescu		2008			1	2:21:30
Adriana Fernández					1	2:24:06	First Mexican woman to win the New York City Marathon, in a time of 2:25:06
Franca Fiacconi			(13) 1997		1	2:25:17
Katrin Dörre-Heinig		1988 (5) 1992 (4) 1996	1991 (6) 1993		17	2:24:35
Kayoko Fukushi			2013			2:24:21
Jacqueline Gareau			(5) 1983		3	2:30:58
Tiki Gelana		2012			1	2:18:58
Bobbi Gibb					3		First woman to run the entire Boston Marathon
Kara Goucher			(10) 2009			2:25:53
Lidiya Grigoryeva					4	2:25:10
Ari Ichihashi			1999			2:27:02
Helena Javornik					3	2:27:33
Priscah Jeptoo		2012	2011			2:20:14
Olivera Jevtić					4	2:25:23
Deena Kastor		2004				2:19:36
Mary Keitany				2010/2011		2:18:37
Edna Kiplagat				2010/2011		2:19:50
Lornah Kiplagat					4	2:22:22
Renata Kokowska					3	2:26:20
Brigid Kosgei

| | | | | 2:14:04| Current marathon world record holder (2019)| |-| Salina Kosgei| | | | 2009/2010| | 2:23:22 | ||-| Ingrid Kristiansen| | | 1987
(7) 1991| | 15| 2:21:06| One of the best female distance runners in the 1980s||-| Véronique Marot| | (16) 1992| (22) 1987| | 4| 2:25:56| ||-| Lisa Martin| | 1988| | | 5| 2:23:51| ||-| Catherina McKiernan| | | | | 3| 2:22:23 | Multiple medalist at the World Cross Country Championships.||-| Irina Mikitenko| | | | 2007/2008
2008/2009
2009/2010| | 2:19:19 | ||-| Lorraine Moller| | (5) 1984
(33) 1988
1992
(46) 1992| | | 9| 2:28:17| ||-| Rosa Mota| | 1984
1988| 1987| | 6| 2:23:29| Awarded 1988 Abebe Bikila Award||-| Catherine Ndereba| | 2004
2008| 2003
2005
2007| | 7| 2:18:47| ||-| Mizuki Noguchi| | 2004| 2003| | 5| 2:19:12| Asia Record holder, Course Record holder of Berlin Marathon| |-| Yoshimi Ozaki| | | 2009| | 2| 2:23:130| | |-| Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova| | 2012| | | | 2:23:29| ||-| Uta Pippig|
| | (6) 1991| | | 2:21:45 | First woman to win the Boston Marathon three consecutive times||-| Jeļena Prokopčuka| | | 2 | | 3| 2:24:41 2:25:05| ||-| Paula Radcliffe| | | 2005| | 8| 2:15:25| Holder of several long distance world records||-| Fatuma Roba| | 1996
(9) 2000| (19) 1995
(13) 2001| | 5| 2:23:21 | ||-| Allison Roe| | | | | 2| 2:25:29| ||-| Yoko Shibui| | | || 4| 2:19:41| | |-| Liliya Shobukhova| | | | 2009/2010
2010/2011| | 2:18:20| ||-| Lidia Șimon| | 2000| | | | 2:22:54 | | |-| Hiromi Suzuki| | | 1997| | 2| 2:26:27| | |-| Kathrine Switzer| | | | | 1| 2:51:37| First woman to run the Boston Marathon as a numbered entry||-| Naoko Takahashi| | 2000| | | 7| 2:19:46| | |-| Reiko Tosa| | | 2001
2007| | 3| 2:22:46| | |-

| Grete Waitz| | 1984| 1983| | 13| 2:24:54| ||-| Gete Wami| | | | 2006/2007
2007/2008| 4| 2:21:34| ||-| Sachiko Yamashita| | (4) 1992| 1991| | | 2:29:57 | | |-| Valentina Yegorova| | 1992
1996| | | 1| 2:23:33 | ||}

Notes and References

1. Web site: Gezahegne Abera . Global Athletics and Marketing Inc. . 2010-11-11 . https://archive.today/20120731052933/http://www.globalathletics.com/Athletes/gezahegne_abera.php . 2012-07-31 . dead .
2. Web site: Dionicio Cerón . IAAF . 2010-11-11 .
3. http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/Cotswolds-runner-Steve-Edwards-sets-world/story-17337554-detail/story.html#axzz2YOPZPszu Cotswolds runner Steve Edwards sets world marathon record
4. Web site: Stefaan Engels completes 365 marathons in 365 days.
5. Web site: What makes Gebrselassie great?. 2010-11-05. NBC Universal Sports. 2010-11-14. Joe Battaglia.
6. Web site: iaaf.org - Athletes. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20121011093409/http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/letter=0/athcode=131140/index.html. 2012-10-11.
7. Web site: Guinness World Record: Great Greeks . 2010 . Guinness World Record . 2010-11-14 . Guinness World Record . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110711133051/http://www.guinnessworldrecord.com/news/2008/03/080325.aspx . 2011-07-11 .