Men have managed to shave nearly an hour off marathon running times since world records have been kept; women, more than three hours.The first unofficial record for a standard men’s race was set at 2 hours, 55 minutes by American Johnny Hayes at the London Olympics. The current record holder is Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, who clocked 2:03:59 at the 2008 Berlin Marathon.Marie-Louise Ledru of France was the first woman to finish a 26-mile marathon, the Tour de Paris in 1918, in 5 hours, 40 minutes.Today, women are trying to beat the 2003 London Marathon record of 2:15:25 set by England’s Paula Radcliffe.