With the New York City Marathon in the books, the 2018 major marathon calendar is complete. It’s an opportune time to look at the U.S. rankings.
The fastest times reflect the prevailing storyline in U.S. road running — the women are outpacing the men on the global stage.
2017 marked the strongest year in U.S. female marathoning with five breaking 2:27 and nine breaking 2:30. This year is a close second, with four women breaking 2:27 and seven under 2:30. What’s more, the three fastest American women of 2017 were replaced completely by the three fastest women of 2018.