Rankings Methodology & Data Sources
Current and annual rankings
Current rankings use the best recorded finish from the same calendar date one year earlier through today, inclusive. Dates use UTC; February 29 maps to February 28 in a non-leap year. Annual rankings use January 1 through December 31 of the selected year, excluding future results. Half marathons, missing times, and non-positive times are excluded.
One result per athlete
Each athlete appears once per list. The fastest recorded finish determines their position. Equal finish times share a competition rank (for example, 1, 1, 3), with names ordered alphabetically for display. When an athlete has identical best times, the earliest performance is displayed; record ID resolves an exact remaining tie.
Athlete inclusion
Men's and women's lists use the gender classification stored in the roster. Athletes are included regardless of whether their status is active, injured, returning, unknown, or retired. The roster is curated for American marathoners, but a roster entry does not establish citizenship or eligibility to represent the United States. Those questions need separate evidence.
Courses and timing
We include recorded marathon results on point-to-point and other courses. Times are not adjusted for elevation, weather, course difficulty, or record eligibility. Stored results use whole seconds; historical records may not identify whether a time is gun or net/chip time. These rankings do not certify course eligibility for records or the Olympic Trials.
Sources and missing information
Results link to their recorded source when available. A source may be an organizer result or a World Athletics athlete history rather than a single-race results page. A missing source is labeled as pending. Race pages require at least three distinct athletes with linked result sources, or three upcoming entries with linked sources. That threshold supports useful coverage; it is not a claim of a complete field.
Verification and affiliations
An athlete-wide verified flag does not establish that every biography field is current. Coach, training/coaching group, and shoe sponsor require separate reviewed sources. Unreviewed legacy affiliations are retained for editorial review but omitted from public profiles, the dashboard, and its filters. Published claims have source links and are due for recheck within 90 days; expired or changed claims are withheld. Team head coaches and coaching staff are labeled separately from individual-coach claims. A shoe sponsor does not establish a training group or the model worn in a race. A last-checked date for an upcoming race applies to that announcement, not the athlete's entire profile. Pages may take up to 15 minutes to reflect imported changes.
Trials qualification
A recorded time at or below a standard is evidence to investigate, not an official qualifier designation. Timing, race eligibility, qualification windows, athlete eligibility, and official verification also matter. We link to USATF's official qualification resources in our 2028 Trials guide.