Marie-Louise Ledru was a French athlete who has been credited as the first woman to race the now-defined marathon distance of 42.195 km. On 29 September 1918 Ledru reportedly completed the Tour de Paris Marathon in a time of 5 hours and 40 minutes and finished in 38th place. Marie-Louise Ledru set the women's marathon world record of 5:40:00 in Tour de Paris Marathon on September 29, 1918. It stood 8 years, until Violet Piercy's 3:40:22 on October 3, 1926. Wiki link