This list is a chronological progression of record times for the marathon. World records in the marathon are ratified by World Athletics, the international governing body for the sport of athletics.
Alberto Juantorena is a Cuban former runner. He is the only athlete to win both the 400 and 800 m Olympic titles, which he achieved in 1976. He was ranked as world's best runner in the 400 m in 1974 and 1976–1978, and in the 800 m in 1976–77, and was chosen as the Track & Field News Athlete of the Year in 1976 and 1977.
Alberto Salazar is an American former track coach and long-distance runner. Born in Cuba, Salazar immigrated to the United States as a child with his family, living in Connecticut and then in Wayland, Massachusetts, where Salazar competed in track and field in high school. Salazar won the New York City Marathon three times in the early 1980s, and won the 1982 Boston Marathon in a race known as the "Duel in the Sun". He set American track records for 5,000 m and 10,000 m in 1982. Salazar was later the head coach of the Nike Oregon Project. He won the IAAF Coaching Achievement Award in 2013.
John Treacy is an Irish Olympian and former athlete, now a sporting administrator.
José Manuel ("Chema") Martínez Fernández is a Spanish long-distance runner. He is married to Spanish field hockey player Nuria Moreno.
Gerhardus Marinus Maria Nijboer is a former Dutch long-distance runner. Nijboer competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1980, when he won the silver medal in the marathon. He became European champion in the marathon in 1982, for which he was named Dutch Sportsman of the year.
The men's marathon at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea was held on Sunday October 2, 1988. The race started at 14:30h local time. A total of 98 athletes completed the race, with Polin Belisle from Belize finishing in last position in 3'14:02. There were 118 competitors from 60 countries. Twenty of them did not finish. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Gelindo Bordin of Italy, the nation's first victory in the Olympic men's marathon and first medal in the event since 1924. Kenya and Djibouti each won their first Olympic men's marathon medal.
Shigeru So is a retired long-distance runner from Japan, who represented his native country at two Summer Olympics: 1976 and 1984. He won the 1985 edition of the Tokyo Marathon. His twin brother Takeshi So is also a retired Olympic marathoner, and finished fourth in Los Angeles, California (1984).
Cape Verde competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Their participation marked their fourth Olympic appearance. Two Cape Verdeans competed in the Olympic games: Nelson Cruz participated as a marathon runner, and Wania Monteiro participated in gymnastics. Another athlete, Lenira Santos, was selected to compete in athletics but was forced to pull out due to injury. Monteiro was selected as the flag bearer for both the opening and closing ceremonies. Neither of the Cape Verdeans progressed beyond the first round.
Nicholas Henry Rose is a British former international track and field athlete. He competed in a variety of middle-distance and long-distance running events. He is the current European record holder in the 10K run (road), and British record holder in the 4×1 mile relay event. He set the world record in the half-marathon in 1979. His personal best in the half-marathon is 1:01:03, the second fastest British time after Steve Jones. He also held the British record in the indoor 2 miles event with 8:18.4—a record which stood for 24 years exactly.
Alexis Copello is a Cuban-Azerbaijani triple jumper who since 2017 competes internationally for Azerbaijan. He has a (legal) personal best jump of 17.68 metres (58.0 ft). He is a World Championship medalist, having won the bronze at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. He is 1.85 metres tall and weighs 80 kilograms (176 lbs).
Fusashige Suzuki was a Japanese long-distance runner who is credited by the International Association of Athletics Federations for setting a world record in the marathon on March 31, 1935.
Yordanis García Barrisonte is a male decathlete from Cuba who competed for his native country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The 2005 World Youth champion, he is a two-time medallist at the Pan American Games and has competed at the World Championships in Athletics on three occasions. He is the nephew of Yenima Arencibia.
Albert Richard "Whitey" Michelsen was an American long-distance runner who is recognized as having set a world's best in the marathon on October 12, 1925, with a time of 2:29:01 at the inaugural Port Chester Marathon in Port Chester, New York. According to the International Association of Athletics Federations, Michelsen held this record until Fusashige Suzuki posted a 2:27:49 performance in Tokyo, Japan on March 31, 1935.
Harry William Payne was a British long-distance runner who competed in the marathon at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam and was a two-time national champion. He was born in Bedfordshire.
Yunior Díaz Zayas is a Cuban track and field athlete who specialises in the decathlon and long jump. He represented Cuba at the 2008 Summer Olympics and also at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. He won the silver medal at the 2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics.
Ayad Lamdassem El Mouhcine is a Moroccan-born long distance runner who competes for Spain internationally. He has represented Spain twice in the 10,000 metres at the Summer Olympics as well as the European Athletics Championships.
Carles Castillejo Salvador is a Spanish long distance runner. He has won Spanish national titles in the 5000 m, the 10,000 m and the marathon. He has represented Spain at the Olympics on four occasions.
Cape Verde competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics which were held in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The country's participation at London marked its fifth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut in 1996. The delegation included Ruben Sança, a long-distance runner; Lidiane Lopes, a sprinter; and Adysângela Moniz, a judoka. Moniz and Sança were also selected as the flag bearers for the opening and closing ceremonies respectively. Of the three Cape Verdean athletes, only Moniz progressed further than the first round.
Yesenia Centeno Sousa is a Spanish marathon runner. In 2003, she adopted Spanish nationality in order to compete internationally for the marathon. Five years later, she achieved a top-ten finish at the Fortis Rotterdam Marathon, and also, set her personal best time of 2:31:16 by finishing fourth at the Hamburg Marathon.
Cuba 
