The new world record for the half marathon now stands at an impressive 56 minutes. On Sunday morning during the 2025 Barcelona Half Marathon, Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo shattered the previous record by a staggering 48 seconds, finishing in 56:42 and becoming the first man ever to complete the distance in under 57 minutes.

After his remarkable performance, Kiplimo expressed his disbelief, saying, “That’s astonishing.”

On that day, Kiplimo maintained an astonishing pace of 4 minutes and 19.5 seconds per mile.

The former record of 57:30 was held by Ethiopian athlete Yomif Kejelcha, who set it in 2024 at the Valencia Half Marathon, narrowly beating Kiplimo’s previous record by just one second. Kiplimo’s 48-second improvement marks the largest single enhancement to the men’s half marathon world record ever, as reported by World Athletics.

Favorable weather conditions, including a windless day and a temperature of 55 degrees Fahrenheit, along with excellent pacing, contributed to his success. From the very first kilometer, the 24-year-old was on track to regain his record, starting with a 5k time of 13:34 and then accelerating to reach 10k in 26:46.

“It has been the perfect race,” Kiplimo told the media post-race. “Ideal temperature, no wind at all, fantastic circuit — everything went better than expected.”

Kiplimo already demonstrated his resilience in the half marathon’s challenging middle sections, having set the world record for the standalone 15k with a time of 40:42 in 2024 in Nijmegen, Netherlands. He had also recorded a 15k split of 40:27 during his 57:31 half marathon world record achievement in 2021.

On Sunday, Kiplimo surprised everyone again by finishing the 15k in an exceptional 40:07 while running solo through the latter half of the race in Barcelona.

In a display of rhythm and elite athleticism, Kiplimo completed another 5k in 13:35 between the 15k and 20k markers, then coasted home in the final mile, etching his name in the record books.

“I aimed for a great race, but I didn’t expect to break the world record,” he remarked.

Kiplimo has previously won the 2023 New York City Half Marathon and has represented Uganda at three Olympic Games, claiming a bronze medal in the 10,000 meters in 2021, along with an eighth-place finish at the Paris Olympics last summer.

Joyciline Jepkosgei, the Kenyan runner who once held the women’s half marathon world record, also shone on Sunday, securing victory in the women’s race with a personal-best time of 1:04:13.

This latest world record is part of a series of record-breaking achievements in athletics, which include Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s world indoor 1500m record and Grant Fisher’s world indoor records in 3000m and 5000m.

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(Photo: Lorena Sopena / Europa Press via Getty Images)