World Record Progression: The Marathon

The Marathon is a distance that many try to conquer for their own reasons, whether it be to finish one or to set a new personal best. A select few, however, would seek to became the fastest in the world across this discipline, and in due time, would break one of the most iconic barriers in sports history as as result.

[Mclarenboy]

The fact that Ronaldo da Costa had the audacity to *cartwheel* after breaking the WR by 45 seconds is ridiculous, just as ridiculous as that cameraman missing the whole thing.

[gabrieldodds]

Kelvin Koptum will go down as the biggest what if in sports history

[djbidd]

The Summoning Salt of the running world

[werdwerdus]

RIP Kiptum, definitely a future GOAT contender 😢

[neilchambers]

The perfect video to listen to while i fall asleep

[lexington]

This is a fantastic video. the history of marathon and marathon race records is not something you really think about much. thanks for putting this together.

[Joshy-]

Abebe Bikila being able to get a world record while barefoot is something I'll never be able to wrap my head around. Such a good runner.

[willd]

This was fantastic! Any chance of one of these for the women's record? It has a very interesting origin story and I'm curious to know the progression

[hitchikerspie]

Gosh that was a gut punch, I'd completely missed the news of Kiptum dying, RIP to a legend

[yijuntey]

curious what the race nutrition was like back then. I don't think gels were a thing, so maybe they took juice or fruits?

[mydogsnameislucy]

Man that news reporter hit like a ton of bricks. I didn’t know the story…

[noahcalderon]

My running coach just died on a layover to europe, and when I heard right now about Kelvin Kiptum it reminded me of my coach and how we never know what life is gonna through at us 😪rest in peace to them both.

[brianmessemer]

Thank you for honoring Kiptum. Great video, I enjoyed it.

[kangaroo]

This is one of the most well-researched videos on athletics I've ever seen! Loved it, thank you for taking the time to make it

[QuickZ_]

Amazing times, before most of the science behind how to prepare, before gels, with poor shoes.
Puts the influencers today to shame for pushing the "you need these gels, and these specific shoes" etc etc.. Just get out there and run.

[antoniohysell]

Where is Sammy wanjiru at on this list ? He broke records, 2:06: 32

[EdvardShevchenko]

I knew nothing about marathon runners and their records before watching this. That last part hit me hard. I got all excited for Kiptum’s potential, before that ending knocked me down.

[janai]

I love this video! would love to see one talking about the women runners in the marathon world!!

[baileyayyy]

after the first record was so slow I was feeling hot like "damn maybe my times will keep up for a bit" and it just immediately jumps to sub 3 lmao

[payrysdoscs]

Nothing to do with WRs, but you mentioned in the beginning that some people enjoy competing in multiple marathons a year. That reminded me of Slovakia's Zdeno Chara, a 24-year NHL (hockey) veteran who, in a 12-month stretch from April '23 to April '24, completed EIGHT marathons. His PB of 3 hours, 11 minutes, and 4 seconds came from his most recent race at London '24, just 6 days after he ran the '24 Boston Marathon. What's even more impressive is that he stands at an insane 6'9", weighs 256 pounds, and is at the age of 47. That's pretty neat! 😎🆒️