AthleticsAthletics world record

Half marathon, men

Record

56 min 51.00 s

Holder
Yomif Kejelcha
Date
Place
Buenos Aires
Standing since
2026
Half marathon, men
Photo: filip bossuyt from Kortrijk, Belgium · CC BY 2.0 · Remove this photo

How the record evolved

Chart of the Half marathon, men record, from 1967 to 2026 1967 2026 1 h 03 min 22 s 56 min 51.00 s

The last record set in each decade, up to the current record (highlighted).

YearRecordHolder
56 min 51.00 sYomif Kejelcha
57 min 20 sJacob Kiplimo
58 min 01 sGeoffrey Kamworor
58 min 33 sSamuel Wanjiru
59 min 17 sPaul Tergat
1 h 00 min 10 sMatthews Temane
1 h 02 min 32 sKirk Pfeffer
1 h 03 min 22 sDerek Clayton

Put them in order

Sort these records from the oldest to the most recent.

  1. 1 h 03 min 22 sDerek Clayton
  2. 56 min 51.00 sYomif Kejelcha
  3. 58 min 01 sGeoffrey Kamworor
  4. 1 h 00 min 10 sMatthews Temane

What to remember

Over 21.0975 kilometres, half the distance of a marathon, Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha ran 56 min 51.00 s on August 23, 2026, at the Media Maratón Ciudad de Buenos Aires. That is an average of 22.26 km/h on the road.

Decade after decade, the event has come a long way. In 1967 Derek Clayton held the mark with 1 h 03 min 22 s. Matthews Temane came close to the hour in 1987 with 1 h 00 min 10 s, Paul Tergat got down to 59 min 17 s in 1998, and Geoffrey Kamworor ran 58 min 01 s in 2019. Between 1967 and 2026 the time fell by 10.3%, over 59 years.

A faster run exists that does not count: Jacob Kiplimo clocked 56:42 in Barcelona in 2025, but World Athletics did not ratify it because he had been too close to the lead car. Kejelcha, a former world indoor 3000 m champion, also made 2026 the year of his first marathon, in London, in 1:59:41: he became the second athlete to break two hours in a record-eligible race.

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