It took San Jose’s Antonio Arreola 39 years and 365 days to set the worlds record for the longest span between sub 3-hour Marathons – Dec. 05, 1976 to 04 Dec. 04, 2016 (CIM) – but unfortunately he only got to hold the record for 2 1/2 months as Britian’s Steve Smythe upped the span to 40 years 119 days on Feb. 19. The versatile Arreola, the 2016 PA Road GP Champ Short Series 50+ Champion, will be highly motivated to run sub 3:00 at the 2017 CIM which will also be the USATF Marathon Championship. The smart money is on him to do it.
Longest Time Spans Between First and Last Sub-X Marathons
Tom Bernhard