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Blog · October 24, 2026

Politicians' marathon times: 40 race results

Our database tracks marathon records for 70 people, with 40 finishers shown in the ranked table below. Every mark in this list is a competition result from an organized marathon, spanning race years from 1972 to 2026 and finish times from 2:16:44 to 4:19:47.

# Person Mark Year Effort Source
1 Jacob Frey 2:16:44 2007 · age 26 Competition Jacob Frey - Wikipedia
2 Matthew Parris 2:32:57 1985 · age 35 Competition Record number of MPs run in London Marathon (The Guardian, 13 April 2014)
3 Andrew Leigh 2:42:48 2017 · age 44 Competition Andrew Leigh (Wikipedia)
4 Max Baucus 3:01:18 1982 · age 40–41 Competition Which Politician Had the Fastest Marathon Time? A Slate Interactive (Slate)
5 Frederik X 3:06:49 1994 · age 25–26 Competition Ukuelig Kronprins Frederik: Kastede op to gange og løb videre (B.T., 8 January 2024)
6 Alexander Stubb 3:08:13 2015 · age 47 Competition Alexander Stubb juoksi maratonilla uuden ennätyksensä (Ilta-Sanomat, 25 October 2015)
7 Clarence Thomas 3:11:00 1980 · age 31–32 Competition About the MCM: famous finishers (Marine Corps Marathon official site)
8 Gary Johnson 3:11:11 2002 · age 49 Competition Johnson running history
9 Harry Reid 3:16:00 1972 · age 32–33 Competition Which politician had the fastest marathon time? (Slate interactive)
10 Jean Schmidt 3:19:09 1993 · age 41–42 Competition Schmidt Finds Strength in Running
11 Alun Cairns 3:26:54 2024 · age 53 Competition Here’s how all the MPs running the London marathon did
12 John Edwards 3:30:18 1983 · age 29–30 Competition Which politician had the fastest marathon time? (Slate interactive)
13 Mark Carney 3:31:35 2015 · age 50 Competition Virgin Money London Marathon 2015 results: Carney, Mark
14 Rehman Chishti 3:34:22 2017 · age 38 Competition Records galore as London celebrates its #ReasonToRun – Virgin Money London Marathon 2017
15 James Wild 3:36:13 2021 Competition About James
16 Adrian Fenty 3:37:20 2008 · age 37–38 Competition About the MCM: famous finishers (Marine Corps Marathon official site)
17 John Lamont 3:38:03 2018 · age 42 Competition 2018 Virgin Money London Marathon Diary: Record setting field in record setting heat
18 Chelsea Clinton 3:40:52 2026 · age 46 Competition Chelsea Clinton Has Learned to Pace a Marathon (Marathon Handbook)
19 Joschka Fischer 3:41:36 1998 · age 50 Competition Tagesspiegel: Berlin-Marathon, Privatmann Fischer läuft mit
20 Edward Timpson 3:42:24 2014 · age 40 Competition MPs in the London Marathon
21 Tim Pawlenty 3:43:34 2005 · age 44 Competition Twin Cities report
22 Dan Jarvis 3:43:38 2016 · age 43 Competition 2016 London Marathon official results
23 George W. Bush 3:44:52 1993 · age 46 Competition Popp Culture: Marathon tidbits (CultureMap Houston)
24 Ahn Cheol-soo 3:46:14 2019 · age 57 Competition ‘유승민 러브콜’ 답 없는 안철수, 이번엔 뉴욕마라톤대회 참가
25 Matt Hancock 3:47:09 2021 · age 43 Competition 2021 London Marathon results — Matt Hancock
26 Sandiaga Uno 3:53:58 2026 · age 57 Competition Ganjar Pranowo dan Atikoh Tuntaskan Sydney Marathon 2026
27 Jo Swinson 3:57:00 2011 · age 31 Competition MPs and Peers taking on the 2025 TCS London Marathon (London Marathon Events)
28 Kyrsten Sinema 3:57:27 2023 · age 46 Competition Kyrsten Sinema runs the Boston Marathon (Boston Globe)
29 Matteo Renzi 3:58:00 2023 · age 48 Competition Matteo Renzi alla Maratona di Milano: primato personale
30 Maurizio Lupi 3:58:40 2008 · age 48–49 Competition I vip’s Italiani alla Maratona di New York
31 Eliot Spitzer 3:58:44 1983 · age 23–24 Competition Which politician had the fastest marathon time? (Slate interactive)
32 Sarah Palin 3:59:36 2005 · age 41 Competition Which politician had the fastest marathon time? (Slate interactive)
33 Paul Ryan 4:01:25 1990 · age 20 Competition Fact Check: Paul Ryan Exaggerates Marathon Claim (NPR via KUER)
34 Kersti Kaljulaid 4:02:40 2018 · age 48 Competition NYRR official runner race history: Kersti Kaljulaid
35 Luisa Neubauer 4:03:18 2026 · age 30 Competition Dramatik pur auf Berlins Straßen
36 Erin O’Toole 4:03:44 2008 · age 34–35 Competition Erin O’Toole: full-time CPC leader, part-time runner (Canadian Running)
37 Pia Cayetano 4:06:28 2006 · age 40 Competition Cayetano finishes New York Marathon
38 Eddie Hughes 4:14:42 2024 Competition Here’s how all the MPs running the London marathon did
39 Duncan Baker 4:15:38 2022 · age 42 Competition Duncan Baker London Marathon charity update
40 Sadiq Khan 4:19:47 2014 · age 43 Competition Record number of MPs run in London Marathon (The Guardian, 13 April 2014)

Sub-three-hour marathons before and during office

Three runners in the table finished a marathon under three hours: Frey, Parris and Leigh. Jacob Frey holds rank 1 with a 2:16:44 finish at the 2007 Pan American Games men’s marathon in Rio de Janeiro. Racing for Team USA as a 26-year-old professional distance runner on 29 July 2007, Frey placed 4th and set his marathon personal best. He later entered local office and has served as Mayor of Minneapolis since 2018.

Rank 2 belongs to journalist and former Conservative MP Matthew Parris, who ran 2:32:57 at the 1985 London Marathon on 21 April 1985 at age 35, while he was an MP. That race was his fifth appearance at the London Marathon, and The Guardian calls his 2:32:57 the fastest marathon by a sitting MP.

At rank 3, Australian Labor MP for Fenner, Assistant Minister, and economist Andrew Leigh ran a marathon personal best of 2:42:48 at the 2017 Tokyo Marathon on 26 February 2017 at age 44. Alongside that 2017 finish in Tokyo as an opposition MP, Leigh has run all six World Marathon Majors under three hours.

Race results from sitting officials and future leaders

Across the 40 competition marks in the table, the marks come from different stages of public life. Several people ran their marks before high office: Paul Ryan at age 20, Jacob Frey at 26 and Clarence Thomas at 32. Others ran while in senior posts: Alexander Stubb at 47 as Finnish Finance Minister and Mark Carney at 50 as Governor of the Bank of England.

Clarence Thomas fits the early-career pattern at rank 7. He completed the 1980 Marine Corps Marathon in 3:11:00 at age 32 while working as a Senate aide, years before he joined the US Supreme Court in 1991. That 3:11:00 finish ranks as the fastest time on the Marine Corps Marathon organizer’s famous-finishers list.

Other leaders posted marathon personal bests and official age-group finishes while serving in cabinet or central bank roles. At rank 6, Alexander Stubb ran a personal best of 3:08:13 at the 2015 Frankfurt Marathon at age 47 while serving as Finnish Finance Minister. Stubb, a former Prime Minister who has served as President of Finland since 2024, ran halves of 1:29:46 and 1:38:28 in Frankfurt.

At rank 13, Mark Carney ran 3:31:35 at the 2015 London Marathon at age 50 while serving as Governor of the Bank of England. Carney, who later became Prime Minister of Canada, is listed in the official 2015 London results as runner 25817 in the 50-54 age group.

Another pattern across the ranking is the concentration of marks at recurring city races. The London Marathon, Boston Marathon, New York City Marathon, Berlin Marathon, and Marine Corps Marathon appear repeatedly from 1972 through 2026, placing people from different countries and decades at the same races.

Aliases and corrected marathon records

Race entries from public figures also carry unusual registration details and public fact-checks. At rank 18, Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton and vice chair of the Clinton Foundation, ran a personal best of 3:40:52 at the 2026 Boston Marathon at age 46. She completed that 2026 race in Boston running under an alias.

At rank 33, former Speaker of the US House and 2012 vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan holds a confirmed mark of 4:01:25 from the 1990 Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, which he ran at age 20. In 2012, Ryan claimed a sub-3-hour marathon before admitting the error, and his campaign confirmed his 4:01:25 competition finish from 1990 to Runner’s World.

See how your own marathon time or lift stacks up against these public figures at famousprs.com.

Each person appears once, with the same best record as their page: for a lift, the highest estimated one-rep max; otherwise the most reps or the fastest time. "Working set" and "Effort unknown" marks are training numbers, so the person's true best may be higher. How the data is collected.