Half marathon world record progression

The world record in the half marathon has been officially recognized since 1 January 2004 by World Athletics, the international governing body for the sport of athletics. A total of five men's world records and six women's world records have been officially ratified since that date. The IAAF officially recognized the fastest times before that date as a "world best" from 1 January 2003 onwards. Before that date, the IAAF did not recognize any road running world records,^[2] though the concept of a world record was recognized by other organizations, such as the Association of Road Racing Statisticians (ARRS).^[3]

Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda set the men's world half marathon record of 57:20 on March 8, 2026, at the EDP Lisbon Half Marathon, breaking the record of 57:30 set by Ethiopian Jomif Kejelcha on 27 October 2024 in the Valencia Half Marathon. A time of 56:42, set by Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda on 16 February 2025 in the Barcelona Half Marathon, was not ratified due to illegal pacing.^[4][5]

The women's record is 1:02:52, set by Letesenbet Gidey on 24 October 2021, at the Valencia Half Marathon. The previous record of 1:04:02 was set by Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya on 4 April 2021, in Istanbul, Turkey. On 8 September 2019, Brigid Kosgei ran a time of 1:04:28 at the 2019 Great North Run in Newcastle, England. This was 23 seconds faster than the previous best, but the Great North Run was not eligible for record purposes.^[6] The IAAF has since 2011 also kept records for the fastest time run by women in women-only races (i.e. without male pacemakers). The best time for that category is held by Peres Jepchirchir, who ran 1:05:16 in Gdynia on 17 October 2020. There was some criticism of this change, as the IAAF originally intended to downgrade world records set in mixed-gender races to "world best" status. Still, in response the organization agreed to maintain historic marks as official.^[7]

Races close to the official half marathon distance of 21.0975 kilometers (13.1094 mi) had taken place throughout the early 20th century, and athletes had also been timed at the midpoint of full marathons, but the first half marathon races proper emerged in the 1960s. Some of that era, such as the Route du Vin Half Marathon and San Blas Half Marathon (which both took the official distance in 1966) are extant today.^[8][9] The earliest half marathon world record accepted by the Association of Track and Field Statisticians is that of 67:01 minutes run by Englishman Brian Hill-Cottingham in Romford in 1960.^[10][11] For women, the earliest ARRS-recognised time is that of American Kathy Gibbons, who finished the distance in 83:56 on 7 March 1971 in Phoenix, Arizona.^[3] The earliest men's and women's marks recognized as world records by the IAAF are 65:44 set by Ron Hill in 1965 and 75:04 set by Marty Cooksey in 1978.^[2]

On 30 March 1991, Arturo Barrios ran a world record distance of 21.101 km in one hour, becoming the first man to run the half marathon distance in under one hour.^[12] On 3 April 1993, Moses Tanui became the first man to run a half marathon race in under one hour, with a time of 59:47.^[13]