Geoffrey Mutai 2:03:02 The Fastest Marathon Time on Earth, But Not World Record !

Yes it was an extraordinary performance! Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya has recorded the fastest marathon time of all time when he crosses the Boston Marathon's finishing line at 2:03:02s on April 18, 2011.

However, it's not a world record because Boston is not included  in the IAAF lists of suitable course for recognition of a record. The time is 57 seconds faster than the official world record of 2:03:59 set by Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie at Berlin in 2008.

There was speculation that the runners on the course had been aided by a tailwind. But I believe that the main factors that accelerate the race was the "decrease of elevation" between the start and finish. The race starts at 490 feet in elevation and finishes at 10 feet. Thus, Boston Marathon had a net decline in elevation of 480 feet or 104 metres in which obviously over of the permitted elevation of 42 metres or more correctly one metre in a thousand (1m per km).

Start - Finish Elevation of Boston Marathon

One of the interesting facts about the course of Boston Marathon is that the significant drop in elevation at the first 2 km. Well, the runners would start with a gear two speed (of course in control) and less hard work of acceleration is needed!

Boston Marathon was started in 1897 with 18 participants but now attracts 26,895 'qualified' runners.

Geoffrey Mutai's 2:03:02 (World best) video