Sunday’s London Marathon will be one of the most stacked in racing history with past winners, Olympic champions and the next wave of distance running all vying to close out the spring majors season at the top of the podium.
Meanwhile, more than 56,000 participants are expected to take to the streets of London, passing some of the city’s famed landmarks like the Tower of London, Big Ben, the London Eye, Tower Bridge and finally ending along The Mall at Buckingham Palace.
The elite field at this year’s race is loaded and will feature all four Olympic and Paralympic champions from the 2024 Paris Games, as Tamirat Tola, Sifan Hassan, Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner will look to add yet another title to their growing legends.
For the professional men, Tola will face off against familia names like Eliud Kipchoge, who is a past London winner and returns for a six time. The 40-year-old, Kipchoge is one of the oldest runners in either of the pro fields and looks to rebound after not finish the men’s Olympic marathon in Paris last year.
Kenenisa Bekele withdrew from the race last week, but the men’s group remains competitive with Alexander Mutiso Munyao, Sabastian Sawe, Timothy Kiplagat, Abdi Nageeye and Milkesa Mengesha leading the notable names lining up on Sunday.
In the women’s elite field, Hassan will likely bring the same boost of theatrics to London that she injected into the women’s Olympic marathon in Paris on the final day of running events. Hassan beat Tigst Assefa with a late sprint finish and captured her third medal of the Paris Games. Hassan and Assefa will both be in line to replicate their stunning in finish in Paris and also be joined by an equally talented group of women on the London course.
Joyciline Jepkosgei, Alemu Megertu and Stella Chesang help make up some of the notables that will keep the matchups interesting, while world record holder Ruth Chepngetich was a late scratch for Sunday’s race along with Peres Jepchirchir.
Hug is fresh of a win at the Boston Marathon on Monday and positing himself to grab another major in a week in the men’s wheelchair as Daniel Romanchuk and David Weir have their own plans to take the top prize.
Debrunner carries her Olympic momentum in the women’s wheelchair to Sunday as three-time London Marathon winner Manuela Schar
and Susannah Scaroni are primed for standout performances.
Start Times
The race is on April 27 and begin with staggered times beginning with wheelchair fields. The United Kingdom is in British Summer Time zone which is 1 hour ahead of the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). All times listed are local:
8:50 – Elite wheelchair men and women
9:05 – Elite women
9:35 – Elite men’s race followed by mass start
How to watch
The London Marathon will be broadcast and streamed worldwide through the event’s official television and digital partners.
Live coverage will be shown in the United Kingdom on BBC, BBC One, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. In the United States, Canada and Australia, the race can be watched via subscription on FloTrack.
The Olympic Channel will broadcast the race in China, Japan, New Zealand and Middle East and North Africa territories.
