World Athletics is the international
governing body for the sport of
athletics. As of 2023, the national governing bodies of 214
countries and
territories are affiliated to World Athletics as National Member Federations. According to World Athletics, their lists of national records "mainly include official records as recognized by various national federations" and notes that in some cases "federations recognize invalid performances". World Athletic's list includes Palestine, whose Palestine Athletic Federation is the national governing body of athletics affiliated to World Athletics. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is represented in World Athletics by
UK Athletics, which in turn is affiliated with the athletic associations of England, Northern Ireland,
Scotland, and
Wales (collectively known as the Home Country Athletics Federations). Although World Athletics notes only the fastest performance under the UK umbrella, these associations each compile a list of national records in track and field. World Athletic's list includes some
British overseas territories that compete under their own flags (e.g.
Bermuda,
British Virgin Islands, and
Cayman Islands). Other road racing sources slightly differ regarding which types of political
states are included in their national records lists. For example,
Athletics Weeklys list includes countries of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, as well as the
Crown Dependencies of
Guernsey, the
Isle of Man, and
Jersey which are technically not part of the United Kingdom. The
Association of Road Racing Statisticians' list includes all of the above plus the British overseas territory of
Saint Helena. Similar list variations occur with other political states or territories affiliated with Denmark, France, and New Zealand. Another important reference source is the 2018 edition of NATIONAL ATHLETICS RECORDS (NAR) for all countries in the world by Winfried Kramer with the assistance of Heinrich Hubbeling, Yves Pinaud and Steffan Stube. Several national records were run on a date when an athlete represented a country currently no longer in existence such as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. On achieving independence the appropriate national federation of the current national state retroactively recognized them as valid NRs. ==Marathon records by region==