Women's marathon world record: Chepngetich's 2:09:56, the doping ban, and Assefa's women-only record

The women's marathon world record is 2:09:56, set by Kenya's Ruth Chepngetich at the Chicago Marathon on October 13, 2024. It is the only time a woman has run under 2:10, it works out to 3:04.8 per kilometre (4:57.3 per mile), and it comes with a complication no other marathon record carries: the athlete who set it is currently serving a three-year doping ban.

There is also a second official record. The women-only world record — for races without male pacemakers — is 2:15:41, set by Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa at the London Marathon on April 26, 2026, the same morning Sabastian Sawe became the first man under two hours.

This guide covers both records: how they were set, why World Athletics keeps two, what happened with Chepngetich's ban and why the mark survived it, the full progression back to Paula Radcliffe, and who is most likely to break them next. Everything here is current as of September 9, 2026.

The two women's marathon world records, side by side

The gap between them — 5 minutes and 45 seconds — is mostly a measure of how much male pacemakers are worth over 42.195 km. In a mixed race the leading women can sit behind two or three men for the whole distance, sheltered from wind and relieved of the job of judging pace. In a women-only race they do that work themselves.

Why are there two records?

World Athletics (then the IAAF) voted in 2011 to recognise a separate women-only marathon record, in force from 2012. The rule change was triggered by Paula Radcliffe's 2:15:25 from London 2003, which she ran with male pacemakers. When the governing body first tried to split the categories it briefly threatened to downgrade Radcliffe's time to a "world best"; after protests it kept 2:15:25 as the mixed-race world record and created the women-only record alongside it, with Radcliffe's 2:17:42 from London 2005 as the first mark.

The practical upshot for anyone reading a results page in 2026:

• "Women's world record" or "world record" without qualification almost always means the mixed-race mark — currently Chepngetich's 2:09:56.
• "Women-only world record" means the fastest time in a race where women started separately from men, as at London, Boston, New York and several others — currently Assefa's 2:15:41.
• Both are ratified, both appear in the World Athletics record book, and a woman can hold both at once.

How Chepngetich ran 2:09:56

Going into Chicago 2024, Chepngetich was already the third-fastest woman in history (2:14:18, Chicago 2022) and a former world champion. Nobody expected what followed.

• Halfway: 1:04:16 — at the time among the fastest half marathons a woman had ever run, in any race, and faster than the world-record pace at halfway by more than two minutes.
• Second half: 1:05:40 — a positive split of 84 seconds, but nowhere near the collapse most observers expected.
• Finish: 2:09:56, taking 1 minute and 57 seconds off Tigst Assefa's 2:11:53 from Berlin the previous year.
• Pacing: two Kenyan male pacemakers ran in front of her for most of the race, which is legal in a mixed event.
• Ratification: World Athletics ratified the time as the women's marathon world record in December 2024.

The margin was staggering. Before Chepngetich, no woman had run under 2:11. She ran 2:09. Her first half alone was, at the time, the fifth-fastest half marathon a woman had ever run.

The doping ban — and why the record still stands

The record's status changed in 2025, though not in the way most people assume.

• March 14, 2025: an out-of-competition sample collected from Chepngetich tests positive for hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), a diuretic banned because it can mask other substances.
• July 17, 2025: the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announces her provisional suspension.
• October 2025: Chepngetich accepts a three-year ban — reduced from four years because she admitted the violation early. She said she had taken medication belonging to her housemaid; the reduction from four years to three was for her early admission, not for an accepted absence of fault.
• Results annulled: everything from March 14, 2025 onward.
• Results kept: everything before March 14, 2025 — including the Chicago 2024 world record and her 2:14:18 from Chicago 2022.

Under the World Anti-Doping Code, a sanction disqualifies results from the date of the positive sample (or the earliest proven violation) forward. It does not reach back to earlier performances unless there is separate evidence covering that period. There isn't, at least not publicly, so the record stands. World Athletics president Sebastian Coe has said he finds that unsatisfactory and would like the rules to allow the mark to be removed, but as of September 2026 no such rule exists and 2:09:56 remains the official women's marathon world record.

For readers keeping their own list, the practical effect is this: the record book says 2:09:56, and the fastest time run by a woman with no doping sanction anywhere near it is Fotyen Tesfay's 2:10:51 from Barcelona in March 2026.

How Assefa ran the women-only record: London 2026

Tigst Assefa arrived at London 2026 as the defending champion and the women-only record holder (2:15:50 from London 2025). She left with a nine-second improvement and the deepest women's race in history behind her.

• Halfway: 1:06:12, paced by female pacemakers.
• The finish: Assefa, Hellen Obiri and Joyciline Jepkosgei were still together at 40 km before Assefa lifted the pace in the final kilometre.
• Results: Assefa 2:15:41, Obiri 2:15:53, Jepkosgei 2:15:55 — the first time three women had broken 2:16 in one race, and all three inside the previous women-only record.
• Shoes: Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3, the same model Sawe and Kejelcha wore in the men's race a few minutes earlier.

Assefa's range is what makes her the reference athlete on the women's side: she holds the Berlin course record with her 2:11:53 in a mixed race, and the women-only record in London. She lines up in Berlin again on September 27, 2026.

Women's marathon world record progression

Mixed-race world record, from the first sub-2:20 to today:

Two things stand out. Radcliffe's 2:15:25 stood for sixteen and a half years — longer than any modern women's record — and then fell three times in five years. And the last three improvements were the three largest in the modern era: 1:21 by Kosgei, 2:11 by Assefa, 1:57 by Chepngetich. That acceleration coincides exactly with the arrival of carbon-plated super shoes and the shift of the fastest women's fields to Chicago and Berlin.

Women-only world record progression:

Every women-only record has been set in London, which pioneered the separate elite women's start — including the two most recent, set in consecutive years by the same athlete.

The ten fastest women's marathons ever

Half of this list was run in the twelve months between October 2025 and September 2026. The full men's and women's lists, with paces, are in fastest marathon times ever.

What women's world record pace looks like

Chepngetich's 2:09:56 works out to 3:04.8 per kilometre, 4:57.3 per mile, or 19.5 km/h. At that pace:

A 30:48 10K would win most national championships outright. Chepngetich passed 10 km faster than that on the way to 42.195. For the full kilometre-by-kilometre and mile-by-mile breakdown, including how it compares to recreational goal times, see marathon world record pace per km.

Who breaks the records next?

The mixed-race record (2:09:56). Three names dominate the conversation:

• Fotyen Tesfay ran 2:10:51 in Barcelona on March 15, 2026 — in her first marathon, 55 seconds off the record, winning by almost eight minutes. She was an Olympic 10,000m finalist in Paris 2024 and one of the fastest half marathoners in history before she stepped up. A second marathon on a fast autumn course with a proper field is the most obvious route to a new record.
• Tigst Assefa has run 2:11:53 on the Berlin course she returns to on September 27, 2026, and she has now won London twice in women-only records.
• Joyciline Jepkosgei (2:14:00, Valencia 2025) and Brigid Kosgei (2:14:29, Tokyo 2026, and the 2019 record holder) have both shown 2:14 fitness in the last year. Kosgei and Sharon Lokedi headline Chicago on October 11, 2026.

The women-only record (2:15:41). London is the natural venue, and the three women who finished within 14 seconds of each other in April 2026 — Assefa, Obiri and Jepkosgei — are the obvious candidates in April 2027. A sub-2:15 women-only marathon now looks like a matter of when.

Frequently asked questions

What is the women's marathon world record?

2:09:56, set by Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya at the Chicago Marathon on October 13, 2024. It is the only women's marathon under 2:10.

What is the women-only marathon world record?

2:15:41, set by Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia at the London Marathon on April 26, 2026, in a race with no male pacemakers.

Is Ruth Chepngetich's record still official after her ban?

Yes. Her three-year ban, accepted in October 2025, annulled results from March 14, 2025 onward — the date of her positive test. The Chicago 2024 record predates that and remains in the World Athletics record book.

Who was the first woman to run a marathon under 2:10?

Ruth Chepngetich, 2:09:56, Chicago 2024. Fotyen Tesfay's 2:10:51 in March 2026 is the only other time within a minute of it.

What pace is the women's marathon world record?

3:04.8 per kilometre or 4:57.3 per mile — about 19.5 km/h. The women-only record is 3:12.9 per km or 5:10.5 per mile.

How far behind the men's record is the women's record?

10 minutes and 26 seconds. Sabastian Sawe's 1:59:30 is 2:49.9/km; Chepngetich's 2:09:56 is 3:04.8/km — a gap of 14.8 seconds per kilometre, or about 8.7%.

Further reading

• Marathon world records: the fastest humans in history — men's and women's records, progression and pace comparisons.
• Fastest marathon times ever — the full all-time top 10 for men and women.
• Marathon world record pace per km — every split at record pace.
• Super shoes and the sub-2 marathon — the technology behind the last three women's records.
• How to pace a marathon — why Chepngetich's positive split and Sawe's negative split both worked.

Whatever your own target, the calculator at runpace.co will turn it into the per-km or per-mile splits you need on race day.