London Marathon

• All information from official website. NOTE: The 2020 race was restricted to elite athletes in able-bodied (30 for each sex) and invited wheelchair athletes. ==History==

(left) and 2005, 2007 & 2008 winner Martin Lel (right) The London Marathon was not the first long-distance running event held in the city, which has a long history of marathon events. The Polytechnic Marathon (also known as the Poly) was first held in 1909. The current London Marathon was founded in 1981 by Olympic champion and journalist Chris Brasher and athlete John Disley. Shortly after completing the New York City Marathon in November 1979 Brasher wrote an article for The Observer newspaper which began: To believe this story you must believe that the human race be one joyous family, working together, laughing together, achieving the impossible. Last Sunday, in one of the most trouble-stricken cities in the world, 11,532 men and women from 40 countries in the world, assisted by over a million black, white and yellow people, laughed, cheered and suffered during the greatest folk festival the world has seen. The first wheelchair marathon race was held in 1983 and the event was credited with reducing the stigma surrounding disabled athletes. In 2013 the IPC Athletics Marathon World Cup was held within the London Marathon featuring athletes of both genders in the T42–T46 and T11–T13 categories. In August 2013 it was announced that the event would be staged in London until 2017 and feature athletes in the T11-T12, T13, T42-T44, T43, T45-46, T51-52 and the T53-54 class. For many years the London and Polytechnic Marathons competed with each other until, in 1996, the latter folded in due to the popularity of the former. A 30-second silence was held before the start of the marathon to show respect and support to those affected by the tragedy. In April 2025, race organisers announced they will no longer post on X. ==Organisation==

The race is currently organised by Hugh Brasher, son of Chris, as race director and Nick Bitel as chief executive. Previously David Bedford and Bitel had overseen a period of great change for the race, including amendments to the course in 2005 which saw the cobbled section by the Tower of London replaced with a flat stretch along the Highway. Dan Tunstall Pedoe was the medical director of the London Marathon for 25 years between the first one in 1981 until 2005. In 2003, Pedoe was shadowed by Sanjay Sharma from St George's Hospital (University of London) who took over the role in its entirety in 2006. Medical cover is provided by 150 doctors. Also assisting were more than 1,500 volunteers of St. John Ambulance, who organise over 50 first aid posts along the route, and three field hospitals at the finish. St John Ambulance also provide a number of healthcare professions for the event, including nurses, paramedics, ambulances with crews. After pressure from Sophie Power and sheRACES, the marathon now allows pregnant and post-partum women to defer their place to a later date of their choosing, thus ensuring they are fully fit and well when they race. The BBC covers the event, devoting rolling coverage for most of the morning. The theme music associated with this coverage, and with the event itself, is called "Main Titles to The Trap", composed by Ron Goodwin for the film The Trap. , 13 April 2008 There are three separate groups of starters: Elite Women, Wheelchair (Men and Women), and Elite Men followed by Mass Race. For 2027, there is a proposal to hold the marathon over both days of the marathon weekend to increase capacity. Under reports of the proposal, which was confirmed by both organisers and the Mayor of London, the men’s and women’s races would be held on different days. ==Course==

, Tsegay Kebede, and Jaouad Gharib, near the end of the 2009 marathon The marathon is run over a largely flat course around the River Thames, and spans . The course gains only in elevation and is widely regarded as one of the fastest marathon courses in the world. The route has markers at one mile intervals. Although the race publicity (athlete advice, timing charts and so on) is mile-orientated, the individual timing splits that are available to competitors after the event are kilometre-oriented. The course begins at three separate points: the 'red start' in southern Greenwich Park on Charlton Way, the 'green start' in St John's Park, and the 'blue start' on Shooter's Hill Road. As the runners reach the , they pass by the Old Royal Naval College and head towards Cutty Sark drydocked in Greenwich. Heading next into Deptford and Surrey Quays/Rotherhithe in the Docklands, and out towards Bermondsey, competitors race along Jamaica Road before reaching the half-way point as they cross Tower Bridge. Running east again along The Highway through Wapping, competitors head up towards Limehouse and into Mudchute in the Isle of Dogs via Westferry Road, before heading into Canary Wharf. Since 2012 mile 21 has become a significant cheer zone with Run Dem Crew transforming the stretch of Commercial Road outside the former Limehouse Town Hall into a street party with music and confetti cannons. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 London Marathon was run on a non-traditional course, consisting of 19.6 laps of length around St James's Park, taking in The Mall, Horse Guards Parade, Birdcage Walk and Buckingham Palace. The final circuit was along the Mall, following the finish line of the traditional London Marathon course. ==Results==

, women's winner of the 2005 race London is one of the top seven world marathons that form the World Marathon Majors competition with a million prize purse. The inaugural marathon had 7,741 entrants, 6,255 of whom completed the race. The first Men's Elite Race in 1981 was tied between American Dick Beardsley and Norwegian Inge Simonsen, who crossed the finish line holding hands in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 48 seconds. The first Women's Elite Race, also in 1981, was won by Briton Joyce Smith in 2:29:57. World records for marathon running have been set several times. Khalid Khannouchi, representing the United States, set the men's world record in 2:05:38 in 2002. The following year, British runner Paula Radcliffe set the women's world record in 2:15:25 (later briefly downgraded to "world best" by the IAAF as it was achieved in a mixed race, but restored to the title of "world Record" shortly thereafter); in 2017 Mary Keitany of Kenya set a world record of 2:17:01 for an all-women's marathon. Previous women's world records were set in 1983 and 1985 by Grete Waitz and Ingrid Kristiansen respectively, both of Norway. The previous men's course record is 2:01:25, set by Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum in 2023, however this record was broken in 2026 by Sabastian Sawe, who ran a world record breaking time of 1:59:30. Marcel Hug of Switzerland set the Men's Wheelchair Race course record at 1:26:27 in 2021, and the Women's equivalent was set by Swiss athlete Manuela Schär in 2021, with 1:39:52. ==Amateur runners==

The race attracts amateur runners who make up the bulk of the thirty thousand or more participants; commonly running in fancy dress for charity causes. In 2002, Lloyd Scott completed the marathon wearing a deep sea diving suit that weighed a total of , with each shoe weighing ; he also set a record for the slowest London Marathon time. On 19 April 2003, former boxer Michael Watson, who had been told he would never be able to walk again after a fight with Chris Eubank, made headlines by finishing the marathon in six days. In 2006, Sir Steve Redgrave (winner of five consecutive Olympic gold medals) set a new Guinness World Record for money raised through a marathon by collecting £1.8 million in sponsorship. This broke the record set the previous year by the founder of the Oasis Trust, Steve Chalke, who had collected over £1.25 million. In 2011, Chalke raised a new record £2.32 million. The £500 that Claire Squires collected before the race increased to over £1 million after she died having collapsed during the 2012 race. A small number of runners, known as the "Ever Presents", have completed each of the London Marathons since 1981. When the list was first established in 1995, there were 42. After 2019, their number has shrunk to 10. At the running of the 2019 event, the oldest runner was 85-year old Kenneth Jones, whilst the youngest runner was 60-year-old Chris Finill. They are all male. In 2025, Singaporean marathon record holder Soh Rui Yong set a new Guinness World Record for fastest ever marathon in a suit, running 2:39:57. This broke the previous record of 2:40:53 by Frenchman Emmanuel Bonnier. Soh accomplished this feat while an MBA student at London Business School and is also a graduate of University College London Law School. == Entry ==

There are multiple ways that runners can enter the London Marathon. The breakdown of places is not publicly shared by the organisation. As of 2023, the available places are generally considered to be distributed approximately as follows: • Charity (25,000) • General Ballot (approximately 17,000 (estimated)) • Good For Age Entry (6,000) • Championship (1,000) • Affiliated Running Clubs (1,515) • Celebrity (100) • Elite (100) As well as a small number of places distributed directly to overseas ballot, tour operators and those deferred from previous editions. Charity The majority of runners at the London Marathon do so using a Charity Place. To obtain this, they commit to raising a minimum amount for a registered charitable cause. In contrast to the other World Marathon Majors and other international events, London Marathon has a bigger focus on charity running than other similar events. London Marathon participants have helped to raise £1.4 billion since its founding, including £87 million at the 2025 London Marathon which was the highest amount for an annual single-day fund-raising event in the world. General Ballot In recent years, following the growth in popularity of recreational running, it has become increasingly difficult to obtain a place via the general ballot or lottery. In 2024, success in the ballot is estimated to be below 3%. There have been a number of changes in recent years to address the increase in applications (online applications, removal of multi-ballot entry guarantee etc.). The 2025 event ballot received more than 840,000 applications, exceeding the record of 578,000 previously set by the 2024 ballot. Good for age The Good-for-Age entry route is the entry route for the majority of "competitive" runners. The aim of the good-for-age category is to provide places for those who achieve a sufficiently fast age-graded time. Due to a greater number of men meeting the Good-for-age criteria, places were capped at 3,000 entries for each gender to ensure an even gender split. This has led to the reduction in the Good for Age mens times in recent years. There is a 10% difference in the marathon World Record pace, but a 26% difference in the London Marathon Good for Age entry times. London Marathon is now harder to enter for men than Boston. ==Mini Marathon==

The Virgin Money Giving Mini London Marathon is the sister of The London Marathon. The course is the last of the London Marathon and is for under-13s, under-15s and under-17s from all 33 London Boroughs along with 13 teams from ten English regions and three Home Countries: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. There is also a Mini Wheelchair race on the day. The race doubles as the British Athletics 3mile Championships. ==BBC live coverage==

The BBC has broadcast coverage of the London Marathon since its inception in 1981 and has broadcast the race live, and in full, since 1984. Originally hosted out-of-vision by David Coleman, more recently the main presenters on BBC One have been Sue Barker, Jonathan Edwards and Gabby Logan. The highlight presenters on BBC Two have been Jonathan Edwards (2007–12), Sonali Shah (2013), and Helen Skelton (2014–15). The commentators for the Marathon on the BBC were David Coleman, Ron Pickering, Brendan Foster, Paul Dickinson, Steve Cram, Andrew Cotter, Stuart Storey, Paula Radcliffe, Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, Liz McColgan, and Rob Walker. Theme tune The theme tune used by the BBC every year is from the film score of The Trap, a 1966 film about a Canadian fur trapper, starring Oliver Reed and Rita Tushingham. The music was written by Ron Goodwin and is performed by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. ==Sponsorship and marketing==

The original sponsors of the London Marathon were Gillette, who sponsored the event from 1981 to 1983. Subsequent sponsors have been Mars (1984–1988), ADT (1989–1992), NutraSweet (1993–1995), and Flora (1996–2009). Virgin Money sponsored the marathon from 2010, after signing a five-year £17m sponsorship deal in 2008. In April 2013, the London Marathon renewed its sponsorship deal with Virgin Money for a further five years and the race changed its name to the Virgin Money London Marathon. In 2021 it was announced that Indian consultancy company Tata Consultancy Services would take over sponsorship of the London Marathon from 2022. A number of other companies and organisations also use the event for brand identification and marketing, including New Balance, Lucozade Sport, and Fuller's Brewery. ==See also==