Matt James
Biography
Matt James is a television personality, entrepreneur and distance runner, best known for leading the 2021 season of The Bachelor. Raised in North Carolina, he studied economics and played college football at Wake Forest University. His sporting life has continued through regular marathon training and racing.
His recorded marathon history begins with Chicago in 2019, completed in 4:45:32. He ran the New York City Marathon in 5:02:23 in 2021, improved to 3:46:45 in 2022 and then to 3:04:50 in 2023. In 2024 he finished London in 3:00:41 before improving again to 3:00:20 in New York, just 20 seconds beyond three hours. He returned to New York in 2025 to finish in 3:31:10.
His wider results include Boston in 3:49:38 in 2022 and 3:36:54 in 2025, and Sydney in 3:30:15 in 2026. Over the half-marathon distance, he ran 1:49:18 in San Francisco in 2023, 1:27:32 at the 2024 Disney Princess Half Marathon and 1:24:32 at the 2025 Brooklyn Half. His 2025 Fifth Avenue Mile was 5:14.
James has spoken about wanting to break three hours and about learning to pace races with coach Julia Lucas. His progression reflects years of training across several distances. He was among the announced runners for the New York City Marathon on 1 November 2026.
The 2025 New York City Marathon listed Matt James as representing the United States 🇺🇸, with Miami, Florida recorded as the hometown.
Matt James completed the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon on 1 November 2026 in 3:45:37 net time.
Matt James's published record includes performances from 2019 to 2026 in Marathon, Half marathon, 1mi. Selected recorded events include Chicago Marathon (2019; source checked); New York City Marathon (2026; source checked); Disney Princess Half Marathon (2024; source checked).
Achievements & next milestones
Achievements update from recorded results. A tick means the supporting results are verified.
Achieved
17 finishes completed
Based on 17 distinct completed events in your linked record.
Awaiting verification12 marathons completed
Based on 12 distinct completed events in your linked record.
Awaiting verificationFirst recorded mile race
Based on 1 distinct completed mile race in your linked record.
Verified4 half marathons completed
Based on 4 distinct completed half marathons in your linked record.
Verified3 countries raced
One completed event in each different country; UK home nations count together.
VerifiedFirst marathon major
Different qualifying major marathons. Repeated finishes of one major count once here.
VerifiedRaced in 7 calendar years
At least one recorded finish in each year; this does not imply an uninterrupted streak.
Verified- 2019
- 2021
- 2022
- 2023
- 2024
- 2025
- 2026
Each year counts once. A tick means at least one result from that year is verified.
Next milestones
25 finishes
8 more finishes needed
17 of 25 recorded
5 mile races
4 more mile races needed
1 of 5 recorded
5 half marathons
1 more half marathon needed
4 of 5 recorded
20 marathons
8 more marathons needed
12 of 20 recorded
5 different countries
2 more different countries needed
3 of 5 recorded
2 different sports
1 more different sport needed
1 of 2 recorded
10 calendar years with a finish
3 more calendar years with a finish needed
7 of 10 recorded
PBs & best performances
Running · Marathon · Road
3:45:37PB
VerifiedNew York City Marathon · 2026-11-01
Career highlights
Matt James's published record includes performances from 2019 to 2026 in Marathon, Half marathon, 1mi.
Selected events from this athlete’s recorded career. Verification is shown for each record.
Chicago Marathon
2019 · Marathon
Performance: 04:45:32
Source checked2026 · Marathon
Performance: 3:45:37
Source checkedDisney Princess Half Marathon
2024 · Half marathon
Performance: 1:27:32
Source checked2025 New Balance 5th Avenue Mile
2025 · 1mi
Performance: 0:05:14
Source checkedTCS New York City Marathon 2021
2021 · Marathon
Performance: 5:02:23
Source checkedBoston Marathon
2022 · Marathon
Performance: 3:49:38
Source checked
Earlier results
Showing 11–15 of 17 recorded performances.
| Race date | Race name | Sport | Distance / discipline | Location | Performance | Place | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun, 25 Feb 2024 | Completed event · Finisher · Disney Princess Half Marathon | Running | Half marathonSurface not recorded | Walt Disney World, Florida | 1:27:32VerifiedChip time | 16Gender: 11Category: 4 | —Bib 11148 |
| Sun, 5 Nov 2023 | Completed event · Major marathon · Finisher · TCS New York City Marathon 2023Major marathon · final | Running | MarathonSurface not recorded | New York City (NY22001JHP) | 3:04:50VerifiedTiming unknown · Gun 3:04:50 | 1794Gender: 1652Category: 370 | —Bib 11578 |
| Sun, 23 Jul 2023 | Completed event · Finisher · San Francisco 1st Half Marathon | Running | Half marathonSurface not recorded | — | 1:49:18VerifiedChip time · Gun 1:49:25 | 543Gender: 433Category: 91 | —Bib 16252 |
| Sun, 6 Nov 2022 | Completed event · Finisher · TCS New York City Marathon 2022 | Running | MarathonSurface not recorded | — | 3:46:45VerifiedTiming unknown · Gun 3:46:45 | 6411Gender: 4889Category: 851 | — |
| Mon, 18 Apr 2022 | Completed event · Major marathon · Finisher · Boston MarathonMajor marathon · final | Running | MarathonSurface not recorded | Boston | 3:49:38VerifiedChip time | 15416Gender: 10086Category: 3876 | 18-39Bib 26481 |
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