When we talk about the global landscape of marathon running, we often first focus on the men's and women's winners of a given race, a record-breaking moment, or an individual star's performance. But at the national level, what truly determines a country's long-term competitiveness is not one or two headline moments, but the consistency and depth of its overall results.
Using"the average of a country's top 10 marathon performances in a year" as the statistical criterion helps reduce the role of chance and more clearly present the true structure of each country's marathon level.
Through this list of average women's marathon results, we can not only see the continued dominance of traditional powerhouses like Kenya and Ethiopia in the women's marathon, but also observe some changes, such as North Korea's surprising rise and a slight improvement in China's ranking.
Overall, Kenya and Ethiopia are tied for first; Japan, the United States and Bahrain are third, fourth and fifth respectively,the same as last year. The top ten countries are unchanged from last year,continuing the steady dominance they have shown in the women's marathon in recent years.
The biggest change this year came from North Korea, which jumped from being unranked last year to 11 th place, becoming the country with the largest rise among the top 15. China, which was 10 th last year, moved up to 8th this year — a modest improvement, largely thanks to Zhang Deshun's 2:20. Morocco, which was sixth last year, slipped to a tie for ninth.
Ethiopian women were very strong overall this year; the cutoff for the year's top ten was 2:18:27. They also had very high-caliber champions, taking three World Marathon Majors titles, namely Tokyo Marathon champion Sutume Asefa Kebede（2:16:31），London Marathon champion Tigst Assefa（2:15:50），who also set the women's-only marathon world record, and Chicago Marathon champion Hawi Feysa（2:14:57），who is also Ethiopia's top woman of the year. In addition, there were champions in Amsterdam, Hamburg and Dubai.
On the Kenyan side, the fastest women's time of the year was 2:14:00,run by Joyciline Jepkosgei in Valencia,which was the year's fastest women's time. The second-fastest was 2:14:43, Peres Jepchirchir also set it in Valencia. In terms of major titles, Kenya took four: Boston, Berlin, New York and the World Athletics Championships.
Although the fastest and second-fastest Kenyan women's times arequicker than Ethiopia's, the tenth-place cutoff is 2:18:51, slightly inferior to Ethiopia's, so their average performances are essentially even. It's worth noting that two of the Kenyan women's top-ten times were set in China,namely former world record holder Brigid Kosgei set the fastest time in China in Shanghai (2:16:36 ) and Irine Chepet Cheptai's third-fastest personal time, 2:18:51.
Japan, ranked third, shows its strength more in overall depth than in individual speed. Sayaka Sato ran 2:20:59 at the Nagoya Women's Marathon, the fastest Japanese time of the year. Tenth is Rino Goto, who also ran 2:26:09 at the Nagoya Women's Marathon.
The United States, ranked fourth, is similar; its top time of the year is Jessica McClain ran 2:22:43 in Boston,其次是 Fiona O'Keeffe ran 2:22:49 in New York. Tenth is Amanda Vestri also ran 2:25:40 in New York. Compared with Japan, the US's average times carry more weight because the courses are tougher.
Interestingly, North Korea jumped from previously unranked straight to 11th. The reason is simple: in 2024 North Korea did not have ten results (only 2), so it couldn't make the list — mainly because the Pyongyang Marathon was not held.
Chinese women's 2025 top ten average time is 2:26:31, ranking rose from 10th last year to 8th place.The biggest contributor was Zhang Deshun: a 2:20:53 in Tokyo and a 2:25:13 in Shanghai — two of the best Chinese women's times of the year — which raised the national women's average.
Overall, Chinese women also impressed: Wu Bing 2:26:01, Ciren Cuomu 2:26:52, Xu Bingjie 2:27:11, Lu Ying 2:27:30, Li Meizhen 2:27:51. The overall standard of Chinese women's marathon running is almost at an all-time high.
Finally, it's worth mentioning that the Valencia Marathon and the Tokyo Marathon are both courses where fast times are produced. The year's top two women were both run in Valencia, and Australia's seasonal No.1 was also in Valencia. China's year-end No.1 and Bahrain's seasonal No.1 were both set in Tokyo.
Want to predict next year's women's rankings? The answer will be revealed in a year.
