Ultimate Event Rankings

Marathon Ultimate Rankings

Thanks to Eliud Kipchoge, the marathon is currently the hottest running event on the planet.

Kipchoge’s 2:01:39 world record in Berlin on Sunday made him unquestionably the greatest men’s marathoner in history, as the Kenyan not only took 78 seconds off the previous record, but he also won his 10th 26.2-mile race (11 if you count Breaking2) in 11 tries. The topic of Kipchoge, even three days after his historic run, is still all anyone in the sport wants to talk about. 

But how does this GOAT stack up against the best female marathoners of all-time? We undoubtedly know he has now surpassed every man in history, but are his numbers superior to the greats on the women’s side as well?

To find out, we revved up the Ultimate Rankings machine, a points-based system that factors in three elements of an athlete’s résumé to determine greatness in the marathon:

- Major marathon performances (not including the World Championships)

- PR ranking all-time (scored through top 20 all-time)

- Total number of top 20 all-time performances

Using this formula, the goal was to form a baseline where men and women could be compared on an equal playing field. The result was the definitive top 20 marathon runners in world history.