Seven 2026 Marathon Majors record 328,106 finishers

A total of 328,106 runners crossed the finish line at one of the seven Marathon Majors in 2026, according to an analysis published on Wednesday 11 November, after the New York City Marathon. The average finishing time was 4:25:18.

Of those, 21,616 finished in under three hours, or 6.6% of the total. Only two completed the 42.195 kilometres in under two hours: Sabastian Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha, both at the London Marathon.

Men’s and women’s average times

The analysis puts the men’s average at 4:12:50, while the women’s average was 4:43:17. The difference between the two times was 30 minutes and 27 seconds.

Women accounted for 40.8% of finishers across the seven races. Tokyo recorded the lowest proportion of women, at 26%, while New York reached 48%.

Boston accounted for more than a quarter of sub-three-hour finishers

The proportion of runners finishing in under three hours also varied by sex: 10.1% of men and 1.5% of women achieved the mark.

Boston had 5,849 runners finish in under three hours, more than a quarter of those who achieved that mark across the seven Majors, although its finishers accounted for less than 9% of the total.

In New York, 1,747 participants finished in under three hours. The average time was 4:37:44.

United States had the most finishers by country

The United States had the most runners across the finish line: 109,097 finishers, approximately a third of the total, with an average of 4:28:15.

Great Britain was second, with 51,755 and an average of 4:33:18. Japan was third, with 22,032 finishers and an average of 4:27:23.

Ethiopia recorded the fastest average time by country, at 2:45:07. Of its 95 finishers, 71 ran under three hours; the vast majority were elite athletes.