In a year of dramatic firsts for professional and amateur runners alike, 2024 redefined the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Fans of the sport mourned the tragic loss of the world’s fastest marathoner while celebrating historic performances from Paris to Chicago to Wartburg, Tennessee, where one ultrarunner boldly went where no woman had gone before. Here we hit the highlights of a marquee year in racing that started fast—and then picked up the pace.
Houston, we have liftoff: Running in her half marathon debut, Weini Kelati shaved 27 seconds off the American record to finish fourth in a time of 66:25 at the Aramco Houston Half. Her performance marked the third straight year the record has fallen in Space City. Kelati would later represent the U.S. in the Paris Olympics, finishing eighth in the 10,000m final.
Circulation is for sissies: In Oymyakon, Siberia, the Pole of Cold Marathon eclipsed its own dubious record as the coldest marathon ever, freezing out all competitors with a bone-chilling temperature of -67F (-55C) that caused the eventual winner to nearly pass out from the cold 🥶
“Kiptum was our future”: Tragedy rocked the sports world with the devastating news that the world’s fastest marathoner, 24-year-old Kelvin Kiptum, and his coach Gervais Hakizimana were killed in a car accident in Kiptum’s native Kenya. Kiptum became the first person to run a sanctioned sub-2:01 marathon (2:00:35) when he set the current world record in Chicago in 2023.
Six Star superstar: Already an IRONMAN triathlete and winner of ESPN’s Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, Chris Nikic completed the Tokyo Marathon to become the first Abbott World Marathon Majors Six Star Finisher with Down syndrome 💪
He’s “numb”er one: Josef Šálek of Czechia broke the world record for the fastest half marathon run barefoot on ice/snow, finishing 13.1 frozen miles in a time of 1:50:42. Šálek’s most impressive achievement, though, may be his other Guinness World Record for the longest time in an abdominal plank position, a gut-busting 9 hours, 38 minutes, 47 seconds.
We’ll always have Paris: Frozen Head State Park in Wartburg, TN played host to one of the year’s most compelling storylines, as a record five competitors finished the 2024 edition of the Barkley Marathons. In the end, British ultrarunner Jasmin Paris stole the spotlight in dramatic fashion and became the first woman to complete all five loops of the notoriously grueling event, returning to the yellow gate with 99 seconds remaining in the 60-hour time limit.
How do you say “earworm” in Norwegian? Two weeks before capturing gold in the 5,000m at the Paris Olympics, Norwegian distance runner and world-record holder Jakob Ingebrigtsen—along with brothers/bandmates Henrik and Filip—released “Ingen gjør det bedre” (“Nobody does it better”), a patriotic anthem and arguably the catchiest song of the summer.
Fastest man alive in a photo finish: American Noah Lyles solidified his status as the fastest man alive on the world’s biggest stage, edging out Kishane Thompson of Jamaica by five thousandths of a second to win gold in the 100m Olympic final. Four days later, Lyles captured the bronze in the 200m final—what he’d call “probably my favorite medal”—after testing positive for Covid.
“It’s my crazy thing”: Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands rose to her own “crazy” challenge in Paris, winning a gold medal in the marathon and a bronze medal in each of the 10,000m and 5,000m. In doing so, she set an Olympic record in the marathon and became only the second athlete (and the first woman) in history to medal in the Games’ three longest running events.
The going gets tough(er): After receiving a record 36,406 qualifier entry applications for the 2025 Boston Marathon (with 12,324 qualified applicants missing the cutoff of 6 min, 51 sec), the Boston Athletic Association announced that the minimum qualifying standards for the 2026 race had been tightened by five minutes for athletes ages 18–59.
Welcome to the Majors: The TCS Sydney Marathon 🇦🇺 passed Stage 2 of the candidacy process to become the 7th member of the Abbott World Marathon Majors and the first new member since Tokyo in 2013. Keeping pace, the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon passed Stage 1 of its own assessment, while the Shanghai Marathon replaced Chengdu as China’s AWMM candidate.
How LOW can it GO? Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya stunned darn near everyone, shattering the world record by almost two minutes and becoming the first woman to break 2:10 in the marathon as she blitzed the field at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in a jaw-dropping time of 2:09:56.
His gain in Spain was plainly worth the pain: Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia shaved one second off the world record at the Valencia Half Marathon in a winning time of 57:30, a fleet-footed average pace of 4:23/mile. Valencia now boasts both the men’s and women’s (62:52 by Letesenbet Gidey in 2021) half marathon world records.
Clash of the Titans: The marathon distance was never more popular than in 2024, case in point the TCS New York City Marathon which reclaimed the record for the world’s largest marathon with 55,644 finishers, surpassing the 54,280 finishers at the 50th BMW Berlin Marathon five weeks earlier. Meanwhile, London remained arguably the world’s most popular marathon with a record 840,318 applications for the estimated 17,000 ballot spots in the 2025 race.
Runnin’ down a dream: Admitting afterward that she’d been eyeing the mark “for a few years,” American Courtney Olsen broke the legendary Ann Trason’s 33-year-old world record for 50 miles, finishing fourth overall at the Tunnel Hill 50 Mile in a time of 5:31:56 (6:39/mile).
Fastest parade ever: Finally, the year started the way it began—speedy—at the famously fast Valencia Marathon, where a record ten competitors ran sub-2:05 to eclipse the previous mark of nine set in Berlin in 2023. Putting their best feet forward, more than 5,000 marathoners in total broke three hours in Valencia.
👉 Thanks for reading and for all your support of RaceRaves in 2024. Here’s to a happy, healthy 2025 filled with gratifying miles and personal bests in everything you do! 💙🧡
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Author: Mike Sohaskey
Mike Sohaskey is the co-founder of RaceRaves, the premier online reviews community for runners to share their race experiences and find their next challenge. Mike honed his creative and critical thinking skills as a research scientist, earning a Ph.D. in Cancer Biology from Stanford. He’s also completed over 100 races — including 50+ marathons and ultras — in locations ranging from Antarctica to Zimbabwe.
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