Marathon Analysis: The Fastest and Most Common First Names

It’s inexpensive, can be done anywhere, and promotes physical fitness: Running has many benefits. When occasional hobby runs turn into a passion, the desire for a recognized challenge for one’s own body and mind isn’t far behind. Every year, millions of people take on the challenges of various marathons. The classic marathon covers an impressive distance of 42.195 kilometers. For many, long-distance running means testing their physical limits and being able to check off the marathon as a personal achievement—for some athletes, the marathon is the event of the year, offering a chance to improve their personal best. We took a closer look at the participants in past German and international marathons and determined which first names are particularly common among male and female runners. We also calculated the best times for men and women over the last 6 years, as well as the times by country. Find out which name is shouted most often along marathon routes!

Here are the results for 2024

Here’s how runners performed in 2024 at Germany’s largest marathons Among marathons with at least 500 finishers, this year’s 46th Leipzig Marathon was the fastest: On average, runners crossed the finish line with a time of 3:54:28. The 32nd ADAC Marathon Hannover followed closely behind with 3:54:37. Third place goes to the 41st Mainova Frankfurt Marathon with a time of 03:55:58. Although the 50th BMW Berlin Marathon produced the year’s fastest runner—Tigist Ketema, with a time of 2:16:42—the marathon itself ranked only ninth overall with an average time of 04:09:44. The race in the Thuringian Forest was a bit slower but also hillier: At the 51st GutsMuths Rennsteig Run, the average finishing time for marathon runners was 04:54:29, followed by the 46th Brocken Marathon with 04:45:41. In these cities, women ran the fastest in 2024 In terms of women’s performance, the marathon in Hanover was the fastest with an average time of 04:09:01, followed closely by Leipzig (04:12:01). Female runners also performed particularly well at the 62nd Westenergie Rund um den Baldeneysee, which, with an average time of 04:12:30, was the third-fastest marathon for women this year. These Are the Fastest Marathons for Men in 2024 Among men, Hannover and Leipzig also performed best, with average times of 03:50:04 and 03:50:24, respectively. Third place for the men, however, went to the 41st Mainova Frankfurt Marathon, which they completed in an average time of 03:50:42.

You can find all the results from Germany’s largest marathons in 2024 here:

These first names ran the most marathons in 2024

When it comes to first names, men named “Michael” in particular ran marathons especially often: 914 runners with that name appear on the starter list, followed by Thomas and Christian with 796 and 734 starters, respectively. It was also a busy year for runners named Daniel, who took the starting line a total of 675 times; running enthusiasts named “Andreas” were similarly common at Germany’s largest marathons (579 starters).

This table shows the other first names of runners who participated in marathons in Germany:

Among women, the name “Sarah” came out on top with a total of 220 registered runners. The first names “Julia” and “Laura” are also very common among running enthusiasts (209 and 190 entries, respectively). This year, the 42.195-kilometer distance was completed a total of 181 times by female runners named “Anna.” “Andrea” rounds out the top five on the women’s leaderboard with 169 participants.

You can find an overview of the first names of the female runners here:

Michael, Thomas, and Andreas are the most common names among marathon runners

Which male name appears most frequently on marathon participant lists? With 9,678 out of a total of 15,489 male participants, Michael is the frontrunner. The average finishing time for participants named Michael is 4:12:18 hours. He is closely followed by Thomas, with 9,035 entries and a slightly faster average time of 4:09:25 hours. Andreas rounds out the top 3 with 7,250 runners and an average time of 4:11:09 hours. Interestingly, the bearers of these common first names are, on average, 50 years old. Runners with names like Claude, Göran, Kristoffer, Aleksander, Tyler, or Jose Manuel are less common—each name appears only 50 times. But the most common names aren’t the fastest: Runners named Rune lead the pack with an average time of 3:33:71 hours. Gerold, Klaus-Dieter, Klaus-Peter, and Dietrich take the longest, all crossing the 5-hour mark.

An overview of the most common male first names in Germany can be found here:

Claudia is the most common name; Rabea is the fastest female runner

Claudia is the most common female name among marathon runners: 1,255 female participants bear this name, and it appears particularly frequently at the Berlin Marathon with 371 entries. The average time for the Claudias is 4:37:36 hours. Andrea (1,212 entries) and Sandra (1,145 entries) follow closely behind. At the Berlin Marathon, the Andreas are even more common than the Claudias—and they’re also slightly faster: Andreas and Sandras complete the 42.195-km course 4 and 9 minutes faster, respectively. The least common women’s names, each with 50 participants, are Lone, Alessandra, Sally, and Rosa. But which name is the fastest? Rabea leads with a time of 4:02:14 hours, closely followed by Tabea with 4:02:49 hours. Inkas take the longest, with an average time of 6:11:53 hours.

Find out which German female first names are the fastest and most common here:

Age makes a difference: People in their 30s run the fastest

Marathons are a showcase of diversity: Not only do runners from a wide variety of nations take to the course, but so do people of all age groups. Even runners in their mid-80s don’t miss the chance to tackle the roughly 42 km. The fastest marathon times are achieved in the 30- to 35-year-old age groups, with average times of 04:01:33 and 04:02:13, respectively. These age groups demonstrate the best combination of physical fitness and endurance. In their 20s, the time is slightly higher at 04:06:06, suggesting that experience also plays a role. Starting at age 40, times increase steadily, with a significant rise in running times beginning at age 60. The older age groups, starting at age 80, have the longest times, reflecting the natural decline in performance that comes with advancing age.

Find out which age groups are the fastest in marathons here:

These Are the Fastest Marathon Nations

The fastest runners can be found in Ethiopia: With an average time of 2:30:40 hours, the 187 runners from this country are the quickest on the course. And there’s another nation whose 453 runners achieved an average time under 3 hours: The Kenyans took second place with a time of 2:56:41. Third place went to the 446 runners from Lithuania with an average time of 3:33:50 hours.

Find out which nations are the fastest here:

Siena Is the Fastest City; Runners from Kleinalmerode Can Pick Up the Pace

Do the fastest cities happen to be in the fastest countries? When marathon runners’ times worldwide are analyzed and the average times for each city are calculated, it turns out that the Italian city of Siena has the fastest runners, with an incredible average time of 2:08:49. The U.S. is home to some of the world’s fastest marathon runners, with cities like Eugene (02:14:56) and Austin (02:21:48) standing out for their impressive average times. European cities such as Rotterdam (02:17:10) and London (02:19:40) are also among the top performers. On the other hand, there are places like Viersen (06:14:36) and Kleinalmerode (06:23:05) that still have room for improvement.

Find out which cities are the fastest here:

These are the average times from the last 6 years

Interest in a healthy lifestyle and plenty of exercise—including running—has risen sharply in recent years. But does this also affect marathon times? Are participants more ambitious about beating their personal bests and thus improving the overall average time? In recent years, average marathon times have changed somewhat for both men and women. Among men, a slight fluctuation can be observed: After an increase in the time to 04:26:15 in 2020, the time improved again by 2024, with the current average standing at 04:06:46. A similar trend can be seen among women, though with slightly greater fluctuations. Looking only at the trend over the last 6 years, there has been a slight improvement from an overall average time of 04:14:13 hours in 2018 to 04:12:18 for races in 2024.

Find out how fast marathon runners have been on average in recent years here:

What did we do?

To analyze the most common and fastest first names in marathons, we examined all marathons in Germany as well as international races from 2018 to 2024. The data comes from marathon-ergebnis.de and includes only German participants. In total, the first names of 377,957 participants and their times were recorded, and a ranking was created based on frequency and best times. Only first names that appeared at least 50 times in marathons were included.