35 Awe-Inspiring Marathon Facts

By James Israelsen, Associate Writer

Published October 23, 2025

In addition to the city of Boston, the course for the Boston Marathon runs through seven other Massachusetts towns._[2]
When Greece hosted the first Olympic Games to be held in modern times, the marathon was one of only 12 sporting events featured._[2]
The word 'marathon' comes from a Greek town that is named after the "marathos" plant that grows there._[2]
The first-ever marathon race took place in Greece in 1896. It was used to qualify runners for the Olympic Games held later that year._[2]
A Greek runner named Kharilaos Vasilakos won the world's first marathon race._[2]
The first two marathons held in the U.S. were won by the same runner, John J. McDermott._[2]
The official distance for a marathon was increased from 24 miles to 26.2 miles in 1908 by England, so that they could include Windsor Castle on their route when they hosted the Olympics._[2]
Stylianos Kyriakides, winner of the 1947 Boston Marathon, used his subsequent fame to request that American fans send food and supplies to his impoverished hometown in Greece._[2]
The Boston Marathon was the first major marathon to include a wheelchair division._[2]

A proud moment for Greece

In the 1896 Olympics marathon, when Greek athlete Spyridon Louis entered the stadium in the lead, Greece's Crown Prince Nicholas joined him on the track and ran with him to the finish line._[8]
More than 200,000 Americans run in a marathon every year._[8]
Around 30,000 runners compete in the New York Marathon every year._[8]
In his epitaph, the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus said nothing about his literary career; the only accomplishment he mentioned was the fact that he fought in the Battle of Marathon._[7]
In the 490 B.C. Battle of Marathon, a group of Athenian warriors achieved immortal fame when they decided to charge a superior invading Persian army amid an onslaught of arrows, ultimately killing around 6,400 men before the remaining Persians fled back to their ships._[7]
The marathon race is based on an ancient Greek legend telling how the soldier Pheidippides ran 24 miles from the town of Marathon to Athens, where he managed to announce the victory of the Athenian army over the invading Persians before succumbing to death._[2]
Mexican runner Victor Solis Garavito holds the record for running a marathon in the fastest time while dressed up as a star._[5]
Because the course of the Boston Marathon has too much of a drop in net elevation, times achieved by runners there aren't counted towards official marathon records._[4]

Kipchoge is the greatest marathoner alive (Denis Barthel)

The record for fastest marathon run on a record-eligible course is held by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, who ran the 26 miles in 2:01:39 in 2019._[4]
Of the top ten fastest marathoners in the world, seven are from Kenya, and the remaining three are from Ethiopia._[4]
At 2:14:04, Kenyan Brigid Kosgei holds the record for the fastest marathon run by a woman._[4]
The record for the fastest marathon run by a woman is 12 minutes slower than the record for the fastest marathon run by a man._[4]
Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain hold three of the top ten fastest marathon time records among female runners._[4]
In 2019, Eliud Kipchoge ran the first-ever under-two-hour marathon; however, because the run did not keep standard rules involving pacing and fluids, Kipchoge's achievement is not counted as an official world record._[3]
Rosie Ruiz was stripped of her 1980 win in the women's division of the Boston Marathon when it was discovered that she had cheated by jumping into the race for the last mile only._[6]
Paul Pilkington, who was hired to be a pacemaker for the 1994 Los Angeles Marathon, unexpectedly won when the other runners chose not to keep his pace, assuming he would bow out before the end, as pacemakers normally do._[9]
Between 1980 and 2010, the number of women to complete a marathon race quadrupled._[10]

Distance running has become a truly universal sport

The Badwater "Ultramarathon" is an invitation-only race covering 135 miles, from the lowest to the highest point in the continental United States._[10]
Fauja Singh became the first centenarian (someone at least 100 years old) to complete a marathon in a 2011 race in Toronto._[10]
The North Pole Marathon is the northernmost marathon in the world; some of the course is even run on ice._[10]
Rapper Sean Combs ran the New York City Marathon in 2003 in order to, as he claimed, beat Oprah Winfrey's 1994 marathon time of 4 hours and 29 minutes. He achieved his goal by a little over 14 minutes._[10]
Before becoming president, George W. Bush ran the Houston Marathon in 3 hours and 44 minutes._[10]
Belgian athlete Stefan Engles ran a marathon every single day for a whole year._[10]
Women weren't allowed to compete in a marathon in the Olympics until 1984._[10]
Roberta Gibb became the first woman to complete the Boston Marathon in 1966, a time when women weren't allowed to enter the race; Gibb hid in some bushes near the starting line, and then jumped into the race when she thought she wouldn't be noticed. She finished in a little over 3 hours._[10]
By the time he was four years old, Indian child-runner Budhia Singh had run 48 marathons._[1]