Blog · October 24, 2026

Soccer players who ran a marathon: 40 race times

The database tracks 46 people for this ranking of soccer players who ran a marathon, with 40 shown in the table below. Every entry in the list carries a Competition effort label, meaning all 40 marks come from marathon races. Across the ranking, finish times run from 2:58:08 at rank 1 to 5:02:09 at rank 40.

Sub-three-hour finishes at the top of the list

Only two runners in the table finished under three hours, and both logged their marks in their late thirties as retired players. Luis Enrique, the former Barcelona and Real Madrid midfielder and football manager for PSG, Barcelona, and Spain, holds rank 1. He ran 2:58:08 at the 2007 Florence Marathon at age 37, giving him the fastest mark in the table.

Arjen Robben holds rank 2 with a 2:58:33 finish. The former Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Real Madrid, and Netherlands winger broke three hours at the 2023 Rotterdam Marathon at age 39.

Just outside the three-hour mark, former Derby County and Manchester United goalkeeper Lee Grant sits at rank 4. Grant completed the 2026 London Marathon in 3:00:33 as a London Marathon charity runner.

Retirement miles, first marathons, and a player-coach

A clear pattern runs through the context column: 18 entries describe the runner as retired. Every entry that states an exact age places the runner between ages 34 and 50, and multiple entries note that the race was the athlete’s first marathon. The roster spans midfielders, wingers, strikers, defenders, and goalkeepers, and includes Ballon d’Or winners from 2001, 2003, and 2007 alongside World Cup winners from 1982, 2010, 2014, and 2015.

Kaká, the 2007 Ballon d’Or winner and former AC Milan, Real Madrid, and Brazil midfielder, took on his first marathon after retiring from soccer. Running at age 40 under his legal name, Ricardo Leite, with bib 23300 in the M40 category, he finished the 2022 Berlin Marathon in 3:38:06 to take rank 12.

Gary Speed is the one entry whose context lists a club role at race time. The former Leeds and Newcastle footballer and Wales manager ran 3:49:22 at the 2010 London Marathon for rank 19 at age 40, when he was a Sheffield United player-coach.

Kristine Lilly, the former US women’s soccer midfielder who won two World Cups and two Olympic golds, holds the oldest listed age in the ranking. At age 50, the retired midfielder finished the 2022 Boston Marathon in 3:54:42 at rank 22. She says she also ran in 2012.

Virtual routes, yellow cards, and major city courses

Another pattern shows up in the event column. The 40 marks cluster around major city races, with repeated appearances at the London Marathon, the New York City Marathon, the Berlin Marathon, and the Boston Marathon, plus races in Florence, Rotterdam, Valencia, Prague, Tokyo, and Seoul. Several single editions drew multiple footballers on the same day, including the 2021 New York City Marathon, the 2022 Boston Marathon, the 2025 Berlin Marathon, and the 2025 London Marathon.

Within the London entries, two races stand out for their setting and gear. Stephen Warnock, the former England, Liverpool, and Aston Villa footballer, holds rank 28 with a 4:17:09 finish in the 2020 Virtual London Marathon. Warnock ran the distance on his own chosen route and recorded his effort with the event app.

At rank 31, former Premier League and international football referee Graham Poll clocked 4:20:00 at the 2008 London Marathon. Poll ran the course carrying yellow cards. The source gives his time to the whole minute, so the seconds show as 00.

Want to see how your own marathon time or gym numbers stack up against the athletes on this list? Enter your marks and compare your personal records 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.