Sunday’s New York City Marathon marked the sixth and final World Marathon Major on the calendar in 2024, wrapping up what shaped up to be an intriguing year of the series.

What did we learn from the showings at the six Marathon Majors? We break down the top takeaways from the Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City Marathons this year.

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1. Even In An Olympic Year, Elites Showed Out At The World Majors

Sure, the world’s elite marathoners all had their eyes set on qualifying for and making it to the starting line in Paris at the Olympic Games. 

But that didn’t mean athletes weren’t still chasing after huge performances at the World Majors.

In fact, the best marathon performance of the year – and in women’s marathon history – came two months after the Paris Olympics as Ruth Chepngetich, who didn’t make the Kenyan Olympic marathon team, smashed the women’s world record with a mind-boggling 2:09:56 performance at the Chicago Marathon. 

And that wasn’t the only world record that went down at a Major Marathon in 2024. In April, Peres Jepchirchir destroyed the women’s-only marathon world record at the London Marathon, running 2:16:16 to move up to No. 11 on the overall women’s marathon all-time list.

Plus, two of the top-10 all-time women’s marathon performances came at this year’s Tokyo Marathon, with Sutume Asefa Kebede taking the win in 2:15:55 (No. 8 all-time) and Rosemary Wanjiru taking second in 2:16:14 (No. 10 all-time). 

That doesn’t take into account some of the strong men’s performances we saw across the Majors this year. John Korir’s 2:02:44 win in Chicago marked the second-fastest time ever run on the course, only behind Kelvin Kiptum’s 2:00:35 world record from 2023. Benson Kipruto moved to No. 5 all-time in the marathon behind his 2:02:16 course record in Tokyo back in March. Even Milkesa Mengesha’s 2:03:17 win from Berlin in September moves him into the top 20 on the all-time list.

Paris produced two Olympics records from winners Tamirat Tola (2:06:26) and Sifan Hassan (2:22:55) to make for a pair of exceptional races in August. But that also shouldn’t take away from the history that we saw go down at the World Majors this year.

2. Are We In The Post-Kipchoge Era?

When was the last time there was a year of World Major Marathon competition when Eliud Kipchoge didn't win at least one of the six marathons in the series?

2020.

And that’s even a weird year to reference, given that just the Tokyo and London Marathons took place in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kipchoge only ran in London (2:06:49, Eighth place). 

If you want to find the last year there was an entire World Major Marathon circuit completed without a single Kipchoge win, you would have to go all the way back to 2013 – the year in which he made his marathon debut.

In 2024, the marathon great contested the Tokyo Marathon, finishing 10th in 2:06:50, and then had to drop out of the Paris Olympics marathon.

Kipchoge, who turned 40 years old yesterday, has more than solidified his spot at the top of marathon greats.

But now, we’re seeing new players stepping up and securing Majors wins. 

Four of the six men’s winners across the series this year earned the first Major Marathon titles of their careers, and only Boston Marathon winner Benson Kipruto has grabbed gold at more than two Majors.

Kipchoge has said himself that he wants to complete all the World Majors in his career, and he has yet to compete in New York. And perhaps, if considering that the Sydney Marathon will be part of the World Major Marathon circuit beginning in 2025, maybe he’ll add racing there to his to-do list as well.

He’s also now graduated on to the masters category, meaning he could chase after Kenenisa Bekele’s 2:04:19 men’s masters record, set at the Valencia Marathon in 2023.

But as we enter 2024, perhaps it's time to grow more accustomed to seeing new faces on top of the podium.

3. American Marathoning Sees Some Bright Spots – But There Is Plenty Of Room For Improvement

Looking at how U.S. athletes have competed at key World Majors this year, there is much to be encouraged by.

On the men’s side, Conner Mantz and Clayton Young have shown that they can consistently be among the best in the world. They followed up top-10 performances on a grueling Paris Olympic marathon course with sixth- and seventh-place finishes at the New York City Marathon. 

The women’s side saw some big breakthroughs from athletes as well. Betsy Saina gave the American record a scare at the Tokyo Marathon after a DNF at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, clocking 2:19:17 for fifth and moving to U.S. No. 3 all-time. Susanna Sullivan’s big 2:21:56 PR for seventh overall as the top U.S. woman at the Chicago Marathon is also a bright spot among American performances at World Majors in 2024.

Is there still work to be done? Absolutely. 

Kenya and Ethiopia claimed every World Marathon Major title, men’s and women’s, besides the men’s win at the New York City Marathon. Saina’s fifth-place effort in Tokyo was the top American placement – male or female – at a World Major this year. 

But it’s also worth noting that in an Olympic year, with the Olympics Trials taking place in February, one can assume that that was top of mind for most American elites.

Going into 2025, it’s going to take some fast times and stellar performances to qualify for the World Championships in Tokyo. On the men’s side in particular, that 2:06:30 auto-qualifying standard will prove tough. 

Seeing how the Americans can build on the momentum they saw in 2024 could prove interesting.

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