The highest start to a marathon is for the biennially-held Everest Marathon, first run on 27 November 1987. It begins at Gorak Shep, 5,212 m (17,100 ft) and ends at Namche Bazar, 3,444 m (11,300 ft). The fastest times to complete this race are, men 3 hrs 50 mins 23 secs by Hari Roka (Nepal) in 2000, and women 4 hrs 35 mins 4 secs by Anna Frost (New Zealand) in 2009.

The current women’s record was broken in 2009. The previous record was 5 hrs 16 mins 3 secs by Anne Stentiford (UK) in 1997.