Alexei Smertin heads the marathon times assembled in The Guardian's latest comparison of former footballers. The column places several sub-three-hour performances alongside James Milner's previously reported 3:09:04 in New York.
Five sub-three-hour examples
The fastest result found by the author is Smertin's 2:48:17 at Kazan in 2020, aged 45. The former Chelsea and Russia player took endurance running seriously after retiring from football in 2008.
Luis Enrique recorded 2:58:08 in Florence before his managerial career, while Arjen Robben ran 2:58:33 in Rotterdam in 2023. Aaron Ramsey completed Stockholm in 2:59:00 this summer, and Raul Gonzalez ran 2:59:22 in Madrid in 2019.
These performances came at different events and in different years, forming the column's collection of examples.
Other names in the comparison
Lee Grant ran 3:00:33 at London this year, according to the article. Christian Dailly recorded 3:06:26 there in 2013, while Danny Mills finished the 2023 London event in 3:12:18 at 45.
Among the women's examples the author found, Lauren Holiday ran 3:40:30, Leslie Osborne 3:41:33 and Abby Wambach 3:44:25. The column also discusses Andre Schurrle's participation in a multi-stage desert race as another endurance challenge after football.
Smertin says his future running includes longer-distance events, while he still considers whether he can improve his personal marathon best. That provides the next ambition within a comparison spanning several generations of former players.