The Fastest Marathons In The World

What are the world’s fastest marathons? 

We’ve looked at the course records, average finishing times and number of sub-three finishers from races all around the world to find the fastest marathons.

Based on all the results, the Valencia Marathon is arguably the fastest marathon in the world, and we’ve got the numbers below to tell you why.

You can jump to different sections below:

• What makes a marathon fast?
• The 10 fastest marathons in the world
• Which marathons have the most fast times
• Which marathons have the most sub-three hour finishers
• The fastest marathons in the world
• Other fast marathons

WHAT MAKES A MARATHON FAST? 

• The fastest marathons are very flat, with minimal elevation gain. There are also some courses which have significant overall downhills which could help runners to quicker times
• Deep fields of faster runners take part in many of these races, so there’s competition and company to help push for quicker times at all levels from elites or amateurs
• These races have weather conditions which can favour fast times (or at least the fastest times are run on good weather days). Typically this means cool temperatures and no wind or rain, and are run at or near sea level
• For elites, these races have significant bonuses for winning and running course records (and also appearance fees). That means they often prioritise the bigger marathons, so there’s a natural bias towards those races being faster
• But… just because all the races mentioned here have fast finishers, it doesn’t mean they are only for faster runners. The brilliance of marathons is that they are welcoming to all runners, whether you’re aiming for 2:30 or 6:30. 

THE 10 FASTEST MARATHONS IN THE WORLD

This list is ranked by the course record and there’s more detail and analysis on these races below. 

Both the men’s and the women’s marathon world records have been run at the Chicago Marathon. In 2023, Kelvin Kiptum ran 2:00:35 there, then in 2024 Ruth Chepngetich ran 2:09:56. You can see the world’s fastest marathoners here.

There’s one notable exception here: Geoffrey Mutai ran 2:03:02 at the 2011 Boston Marathon, which was at that time a world record. But the race isn’t eligible for world records, so doesn’t feature in world best lists. If it did, it would be sixth on the men’s list (though wouldn’t feature in the women’s top 10). 

WHICH MARATHONS HAVE THE MOST FAST TIMES?

Where have most of the top 50 all-time fastest marathons been run?

For the men, 20 of the top 50 fastest marathons ever run were in Berlin. Then 11 were in Valencia, five in London, four in Tokyo, three in Chicago, two each in Seville and Rotterdam, and one each in Amsterdam, Dubai and Frankfurt. 

For the women, 11 were in London, 10 in Chicago, eight each in Tokyo and Valencia, four in Berlin, three each in Amsterdam and Dubai, and one each in Nagoya, Hamburg and Frankfurt.

WHICH MARATHONS HAVE THE MOST SUB-THREE HOUR FINISHERS?

If you look at big city marathons around the world, then an average of 5-7% of runners finish in under three hours. 

Boston Marathon typically has more than 10% of runners finishing under three hours. 

There are several races which have over 15% of runners finishing under three hours, including the California International Marathon, Seville Marathon and Valencia Marathon.

If you’re looking to run under three hours with a lot of others around you, then sign up to CIM, Seville or Valencia. 

THE FASTEST MARATHONS IN THE WORLD

Here we’re looking at both the elites and amateurs, where we’re using a sub-three hour marathon as a benchmark for faster times. But almost all of these races work for all runners as they have cut-off times over six or seven hours. These courses can help you run the time you want, whether that’s under three hours or under seven hours. 

CHICAGO MARATHON
Men’s Record: 2:00:35. Kelvin Kiptum, Kenya, 2023. World Record.
Women’s Record: 2:09:56. Ruth Chepngetich, Kenya, 2024. World Record.

As both of the marathon world records have been run in Chicago, we can officially call this the fastest marathon in the world. It’s especially fast for women, with five of the top 10 fastest women’s marathons run in Chicago (mostly by Chepngetich). It’s very flat, but the weather can have a big impact on fast times. 

For the rest of the pack, the average finish time is 4:20:01, which is right in line with big city marathons. Around 6.5% of runners complete the race in under three hours. 

BERLIN MARATHON
Men’s Record: 2:01:09. Eliud Kipchoge, Kenya, 2022.
Women’s Record: 2:11:53. Tigist Assefa, Ethiopia, 2023.

Elite men do especially well in Berlin, with 20 of the top 50 fastest mens marathons run there, and the men’s marathon world record belonged in Berlin from 2003 until 2023. Tigist Assefa’s 2:11:53 set a new female world record in 2023.

It’s generally quick and around 8% of runners finished in under three hours in 2024.

LONDON MARATHON
Men’s Record: 2:01:25. Kelvin Kiptum, Kenya, 2023.
Women’s Record: 2:15:25. Paula Radcliffe, UK, 2003.

Paula Radcliffe’s 2:15:25 was the women’s world record from 2003 until 2017, and when Kelvin Kiptum ran 2:01:25 in 2023 it was then the second-fastest marathon of all time. London has seen the most women’s top 50 marathon times out of all races.

Around 7% of finishers run under three hours, but more than 25% take longer than five hours. 

VALENCIA MARATHON 
Men’s Record: 2:01:48. Sisay Lemma, Ethiopia, 2023.
Women’s Record: 2:14:58. Amane Beriso, Ethiopia, 2022.

Valencia has become known as one of the world’s fastest marathons, with elites chasing good prize money and the prospect of a €1,000,000 bonus if a world record is run there. 

It likely has the greatest number and density of faster amateur runners out of any global marathon. In 2023, 560 people ran under 2:30, and 5,122 people ran under three hours, which is almost 20% of finishers! No other race comes close to Valencia in having so many sub-three runners.

For context, the 2024 Boston Marathon had 120 sub-2:30 runners and 2,886 sub-three runners with a similar number of overall finishers. The 2024 Chicago Marathon had 145 sub-2:30 and 3,356 sub-three finishers, and overall Chicago had double the number of runners compared to Valencia.

Based on all the numbers, we can say that the Valencia Marathon is the fastest marathon in the world, so if you’re looking to run a quick time, go to Valencia. It’s an open sign up, though fills up fast. 

TOKYO MARATHON
Men’s Record: 2:02:16. Benson Kipruto, Kenya, 2024.
Women’s Record: 2:15:55. Sutume Asefa Kebede, Ethiopia, 2024.

Tokyo is the fifth fastest marathon for both men and women. There’s always a strong field of runners and there’s less elevation gain than Berlin and Chicago and it has a slight overall downhill.

As a race, it has a very large percentage of slower runners, though a lot of people (5% of finishers) still run under three hours in Tokyo. 

BOSTON MARATHON
Men’s Record: 2:03:02. Geoffrey Mutai, Kenya, 2011.
Women’s Record: 2:19:59. Buzunesh Deba, Ethiopia, 2014.

Boston isn’t eligible for world records because the overall decrease in elevation cannot average more than one metre per kilometre and in Boston it averages much more than that, also record-eligible courses cannot have a start and finish lines cannot be further apart than 50% of the race distance (partly to remove the possibility of a helpful tailwind). 

But as a race, it’s generally fast. Around 80% of participants have successful run a qualifying time for the race, so they are among the quickest in their age categories, and that means the average finish time is one of the quickest in the world (3:53 in 2024), with more than 10% of runners finishing in under three hours.

DUBAI MARATHON 
Men’s Record: 2:03:34. Geteneh Molla, Ethiopia, 2019.
Women’s Record: 2:16:07. Tigist Ketema, Ethiopia, 2023.

If you take an average of elite finish times across big city marathons, Dubai is easily one of the top 10 fastest marathons for both men and women. It’s a race which gets a strong elite field, but is relatively small otherwise, with just over 1,100 finishers in 2024, and only 70 running sub-three. 

ROTTERDAM MARATHON
Men’s Record: 2:03:36. Bashir Abdi, Belgium, 2021.
Women’s Record: 2:18:58. Tiki Gelana, Ethiopia, 2012. 

Before Kelvin Kiptum’s death in early 2024, he announced that he was going to try and run a marathon in under two hours at that year’s Rotterdam Marathon, so it’s clearly a course that he thought was capable of very fast times, and the course records reflect that. 

Just over 1,000 of the 17,000 runners finished under three hours in 2024 (around 6.4% overall). 

AMSTERDAM MARATHON
Men’s Record: 2:03:38. Tamirat Tola, Ethiopia, 2021.
Women’s Record: 2:16:52. Yalemzerf Yehualaw, Ethiopia, 2024.

Amsterdam is consistently fast and always has a very strong elite field. Overall, slightly more people (actual and percentage) run sub-three hours in Rotterdam compared to Amsterdam. 

SEVILLE MARATHON
Men’s Record: 2:03:27. Deresa Geleta, Ethiopia, 2024.
Women’s Record: 2:18:51. Alemu Megertu, Ethiopia, 2022.

Geleta’s time in 2024 made Seville the sixth fastest men’s marathon course, and that year a lot of elites travelled there to achieve their Olympic Marathon Qualifying time.

It’s a fast field overall, with around 17% of runners finishing under three hours in 2024. That makes it one of the highest-ranked races in the world for sub-three finishers.

FRANKFURT MARATHON
Men’s Record: 2:03:42. Wilson Kipsang, Kenya, 2011. 
Women’s Record: 2:17:25. Hawi Feysa, Ethiopia, 2024.

Almost 8% of runners finished in under three hours in 2024, which puts Frankfurt as above average for fast runners. It always has a large field, with a lot of runners pushing for faster times. 

OTHER FAST MARATHONS

The races above are some of the better-known big city marathons, but there are lots of other races around the world which have courses that could lead to very quick times. 

Newport Marathon in Wales has one of the highest average finish times of smaller marathons in the UK, with the 2,000 finishers in 2024 averaging 3:58, and 8.6% achieving a sub-three time (based on adjusted results after the course was found to be mis-measured and too long).

Milan Marathon had an average finish time of just under four hours in 2024, with 7.6% of finishers (over 500 runners) achieving sub-three hours. 

Gold Coast Marathon claims that 60% of runners achieve a personal best in the race. In 2024, 8.3% of finishers ran under three hours.

Grandma’s Marathon had 577 sub-three finishers in 2024, which is 7.6% of all runners. The Houston Marathon has similar numbers to Grandma’s. 

California International Marathon is a perennial favourite with faster runners. CIM had an average finish time of under four hours in 2023, with 16% of the 9,000 runners finishing under three hours – that makes it one of the highest percentages of sub-three finishers at any larger marathon. It’s a net downhill course, but still has over 600ft/200m of elevation gain, so it’s not an ‘easy’ course. 

Las Vegas Marathon is a fast point to point course with over 2,400ft of elevation loss (and only 107ft of gain!). The course is USATF certified and is eligible for running a qualifying time for the Boston Marathon. The race has around 2,000 finishers, though the field isn’t as deep as other races, with only 53 sub-3 finishers in 2024.

The Tunnel Marathons take part in June, August and September outside of North Bend, Washington State. They have over 2,000ft of elevation loss on a USATF certified course and the average finish time is typically under four hours (it’s a gently rolling downhill route mostly on packed gravel on an old railway line. Just one thing: after half a mile you enter a pitch black tunnel for 2.4 miles, so you’ll need a headtorch, but you can drop it off at an aid station when you’re out of the tunnel.

Revel Mt Charlston Marathon is a more extreme (and extremely scenic) downhill race which starts at 7,633ft and drops over 5,000ft through the race. The course average time is 3:57 but the benefits of the downhill should probably be balanced against the altitude, which is going to be challenging for a lot of runners. There’s also the REVEL Big Bear Marathon with similar course profiles and PB potential, but also similar altitude. 

Lead image from Tokyo Marathon