World Road Running Records

USATF Rule 265.5 establishes the criteria for a record standard course (i.e., the course cannot drop more than 1 meter per kilometer and/or the separation in a straight line from the start to the finish cannot exceed 30% of the race distance). Note: a point-to-point course can be record standard if there is not excessive drop and if it can be verified that the wind component was not an aid on race day. Point-to-point courses like the Crescent City Classic 10K in New Orleans, Louisiana, Bay to Breakers 12K in San Francisco, California and the ING New York City Marathon are examples.

Notes: Date format = month/day/year a = performance possibly aided by wind and/or slope; considered a "best" not a record.

Men's World Records

5 km	13:00	World Record	Sammy Kipketer	KEN	Carlsbad 5000	CA	03/26/00
5 km	13:00	World Record	Sammy Kipketer	KEN	Carlsbad 5000	CA	04/01/01
8 km	22:03	World Record	Peter Githuka	KEN	Crazy Eights	TN	07/20/96
10 km	27:11	World Record	Sammy Kipketer	KEN	Crescent City Classic	LA	03/30/02
12 km	33:31	World Record	Joseph Kimani	KEN	Arts Fest River Run	IN	05/10/97
15 km	41:29	World Record	Felix Limo	KEN	Zevenheuvelenloop	NED	11/11/01
20 km	55:48	World Record	Haile Gebrselassie	ETH	P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona (split)	AZ	01/15/06
25 km	1:12:45	World Record	Paul Kosgei	KEN	Berlin	GER	05/09/04
30 km	1:28:00	World Record	Takayuki Matsumiya	JPN	Kumanichi	JPN	02/27/05
50 km	2:43:38	Unvalidatable	Thompson Magawana	RSA	Two Oceans (split)	RSA	04/02/88
50 km	2:51:48	World Record	Alex Tilson	USA	Silicon Valley Speedster	CA	11/02/02
100 km	6:16:41	World Record	Jean-Paul Praet	BEL	IAU European Championships	NED	09/12/92
10 mile	44:24	Pending Record	Haile Gebrselassie	ETH	Brabants Dagblad Tilburg	NED	09/04/05
10 mile	45:12	World Record	Paul Tergat	KEN	Stramilano (split)	ITA	04/04/98
50 mile	4:50:51	World Record	Bruce Fordyce	RSA	AMJA Ultramarathon	IL	10/14/84
100 mile	12:05:43	World Record	Andy Jones	CAN	Olander Park	OH	09/27/97
24 hr	290,221 m	World Record	Yiannis Kouros	GRE	Sri Chinmoy	SUI	05/03/98
Half-mara	58:33	World Record	Sammy Wanjiru	KEN	Fortis City-Pier-City	NED	03/17/07
Marathon	2:04:26	Pending Record	Haile Gebrselassie	ETH	real,- Berlin	GER	09/30/07
Marathon	2:04:55	World Record	Paul Tergat	KEN	real,- Berlin	GER	09/28/03
Ekiden (6)	1:57:06	World Record	Kenya	KEN	Chiba Int'l	JPN	11/23/05

 

Men's 'Best Performances' (mark aided by wind and/or slope)

8 km	21:03a	Elev. Drop 67m/km	Larry Smithee	USA	Alta Peruvian Lodge Downhill	UT	09/19/98
10 km	26:54a	P Elev. Drop 5.5m/km	Eliud Kipchoge	KEN	San Silvestre Vallecana	ESP	12/31/06
10 km	27:04a	Elev. Drop 3.4m/km	Joseph Kimani	KEN	Peachtree Road Race	GA	07/04/96
100 km	6:13:33a	S-F Separation>30%	Takahiro Sunada	JPN	Lake Saroma	JPN	06/21/98
10 mile	44:46a	S-F Separation>30%	Paul Koech	KEN	Dam tot Dam	NED	09/21/97
50 mile	4:50:21a	S-F Separation>30%	Bruce Fordyce	RSA	London-Brighton (split)	GBR	09/25/83

 

Women's World Records

5 km	14:46	World Record	Meseret Defar	ETH	Carlsbad 5000	CA	04/09/06
8 km	24:28	World Record	Asmae Leghzaoui	MAR	Crazy Eights	TN	07/13/02
10 km	30:21	World Record	Paula Radcliffe	GBR	World's Best	PUR	02/23/03
12 km	38:22	World Record	Asmae Leghzaoui	MAR	Albertsons Bay to Breakers	CA	05/15/05
15 km	46:55	World Record	Kayoko Fukushi	JPN	Maragume Half-Marathon (split)	JPN	02/05/06
20 km	1:02:57	Pending Record	Lornah Kiplagat	NED	World Championships (split)	ITA	10/14/07
20 km	1:03:21	World Record	Lornah Kiplagat	NED	World Championships	HUN	10/08/06
25 km	1:21:31	Pending Record	Constantina Tomescu-Dita	ROM	LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon (split)	IL	10/22/06
25 km	1:22:13	World Record	Mizuki Noguchi	JPN	real,- Berlin Marathon (split)	GER	09/25/05
30 km	1:38:30	Pending Record	Constantina Tomescu-Dita	ROM	LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon (split)	IL	10/22/06
30 km	1:38:49	World Record	Mizuki Noguchi	JPN	real, - Berlin Marathon (split)	GER	09/25/05
50 km	3:08:39	Unvalidatable	Frith Van Der Merwe	RSA	Two Oceans (split)	RSA	03/25/89
50 km	3:13:51	World Record	Janis Klecker	USA	Ultradistance Classic	FL	12/17/83
100 km	7:00:27	Pending Record	Norimi Sakurai	JPN	IAU World Cup	NED	09/08/07
100 km	7:00:48	World Record	Ann Trason	USA	IAU World Challenge	NED	09/16/95
10 mile	51:00	Pending Record	Sonia O'Sullivan	IRL	BUPA Great South Run	GBR	09/08/02
10 mile	51:16	World Record	Colleen De Reuck	RSA	Nortel Cherry Blossom	DC	04/05/98
50 mile	5:40:18	World Record	Ann Trason	USA	Houston Ultramarathon	TX	02/23/91
100 mile	13:47:42	World Record	Ann Trason	USA	Sri Chinmoy	NY	05/04/91
24 hr	243,656 m	World Record	Sigrid Lomsky	GER	IAU European Championships	SUI	05/01/93
Half-mara	1:06:25	Pending Record	Lornah Kiplagat	NED	World Championships	ITA	10/14/07
Half-mara	1:06:44	World Record	Elana Meyer	RSA	Tokyo City	JPN	01/15/99
Marathon	2:15:25	World Record	Paula Radcliffe	GBR	Flora London Marathon	GBR	04/13/03
Ekiden (6)	2:11:41	World Record	China	CHN	Beijing Int'l Ekiden	CHN	02/28/98

 

Women's 'Best Performances' (mark aided by wind and/or slope)

8 km	24:27a	Elev drop 3.5m/km	Sonia O'Sullivan	IRL	BUPA International	IRL	10/17/99
100 km	6:33:11a	S-F Separation>30%	Tomoe Abe	JPN	Lake Saroma	JPN	06/25/00
10 mile	50:50a	S-F Separation>30%	Lornah Kiplagat	NED	Dam tot Dam	NED	09/17/06
Half-mara	1:05:40a	Elev drop 1.45m/km	Paula Radcliffe	GBR	BUPA Great North Run	GBR	09/21/03