Key events
Sawe speaks to BBC Sport after his world record marathon run:
I am feeling good. I am happy. It’s a day to remember for me.
We started the race well and approaching the end of the race, I was feeling strong and I remember fellow Ethiopian was so competitive. I think he helped me a lot. Finally, reaching the finish line, I saw the time, I was so excited.
Today showed me there is time for everyone. I am so happy. I was well prepared. Coming to London for the second time was important to me.
I want to thank the crowd for cheering for us. I think they had a lot for me because I feel so happy and strong and [was] pushing. What happened today was not for me alone, but for everyone in London.
Your reaction to the elite races!
Adam:
Just watched Sawe cross the finish line. Didn’t really realise how fast he was until someone mentioned it after and so glad to have witnessed it.
Mary:
Sawe! Sawe! Sawe! We were cheering him on at home! One of the greatest marathon performances ever!
Anya:
Assefa’s finish was incredible! I was so sure she was falling away but the fact that she finished like that, I am so impressed. Now off to cheer on my friend running for brain cancer research.
Missy:
We were right there watching Hug cross all on his own and then Debrunner’s sprint finish. My first experience here and I will definitely be back – maybe even as a runner.
Elite men’s race: Confirmation! Kejelcha took second in 1:59:41 and in third, Jacob Kiplimo at 2:00.28.
Elite men’s race: Yomif Kejelcha finishes second and that might be the fastest-ever second-place finish. He may have also done it under two hours.
Sawe breaks two-hour barrier to win the men’s elite race
Sabastian Sawe has done it! He wins the London Marathon and finishes the race in 1:59:30! That is the first record broken in the men’s race in London since 2002.
Elite men’s race: Sawe has pulled away and he is going to win this. Can he finish under the current record of 2:00:35? Projected finish is 1:59. What a milestone that would be! And he’s somehow getting faster.
Elite men’s race: Still Sawe and Kejelcha neck-in-neck. Two very different runners. Sawe, a seasoned marathon runner, is aiming for the world record while Kejelcha will be getting a personal best no matter what. No one really expected the latter to be here.
Assefa wins women’s elite race and sets world record
Tigst Assefa makes it two in a row in London, roaring as she crosses the finish line and beats her women-only world record by about 10sec, finishing with a time of 2:15:41. Hellen Obiri comes in second, smashing her personal best and Joyciline Jepkosgei finishes third.
Elite women’s race: Assefa now in the lead as they turn and see Buckingham Palace. Is this the gap that allows her to defend her title?!
Elite women’s race: Obiri now really falling away but she is trying to surge forward. Assefa now coming around her side. This is going to be so close!
Elite women’s race: They can see Big Ben in the distance. Assefa, who is in second, is looking a bit tired at the moment – her knee lift is almost nonexistent. Can Jepkosgei creep up ahead of her? Obiri still in the lead and she is trying to get away. 1200m or so to go.
Elite men’s race: Sawe is still in the lead as they approach the 35km mark. Right behind him is Yomif Kejelcha, who is in newer territory. The Etiohpian is more experienced in half marathons.
Elite women’s race: For the first time during this race, Obiri leads the race. The pack of the three have slowed down a bit though, and the world record may be slipping away.
Elite women’s race: Assefa, who is in front, deliberately avoids the drink station and Obiri and Jepkosgei had to shuffle sideways a bit to get theirs. Was that a deliberate move from the defending champion? Obiri went for a drink at the 25km mark and she missed it so she especially needed to grab this one.
Some of your emails have come in!
Dil Bola:
I feel proud and inspired to announce that best friend Mr Baldev Singh Bains, 80-year-old Sikh is running today to raise money for a Charity in the name of Mr Fauja Singh who broke many records.
Fauja Singh, also known as the “Turbaned Tornado” was the world’s oldest marathon runner. Starting his running career at 89, he became the first person over 100 to finish a full marathon in 2011, raising significant funds for charity. Incredible!
Krishna:
A few of my friends have run a full marathon and I have run only a half marathon a few times – all of them in the Czech Republic. I have a plan to get back into training and do a full marathon soon. There is something addictive about long distance running and mountains (slow burners) that no other sports can match. It is as close to meditation as one can get. Some of these elite athletes run faster than I bike. Amazing people. Total respect.
Lee:
New York City Runs Brooklyn Half Marathon from Greenpoint to Prospect Park – we will be running in solidarity over here.
Elite men’s race: A pack of six including Sabastian Sawe and Jacob Kiplimo have crossed Tower Bridge and are just over world-record time. Just one pace maker left with the group which may affect the finish times.
Debrunner wins the women’s wheelchair elite race
Catherine Debrunner and Tatyana McFadden approach the Mall but the latter is just falling away and it is going to be Debrunner who takes this! She speeds ahead and crosses the finish line first after coming second in Boston just a week ago.
Elite women’s wheelchair race: Debrunner and McFadden are still neck-in-neck as they near the Palace of Westminster. Sprint finish to come!
Elite men’s wheelchair race: Luo Xingchuan of China, just 23 years old, finishes second and David Weir, 46, takes third – his 22nd podium finish at the London Marathon.
Hug wins the men’s wheelchair elite race
Switzerland’s Marcel Hug delivers once again as he wins his eighth London Marathon overall and his sixth in a row. This is his third marathon of the year and he has a 100% record. So, so dominant.
Elite women’s race: Obiri, Assefa and Jepkosgei are 31sec under world record time an hour into this race.
Elite men’s wheelchair race: Hug is a long, long way clear of the rest. He is 15 minutes away from winning his eighth London Marathon.
Elite women’s race: We are down to the three racers we expected but the speed they are going at is faster than expected – they just went through the 10km in 31min. Looks like Assefa and Jepkosgei may be trying to tire out newcomer Obiri.
Elite women’s wheelchair race: Debrunner and McFadden are rotating the lead at the front of the race. Anytime either of them gets ahead though, they just try to make it slightly more difficult for the other. Debrunner currently in the lead.
Elite men’s wheelchair race: Marcel Hug and Leo Xingchuan have broken away and are leading the pack at around the 10km mark. David Weir is not far behind the pair.
Hug is the greatest wheelchair marathoner in history and a win today would pull him level with Weir for most marathon wins in London.
Elite men’s race: The men are being introduced. Last year’s winner, Sabastian Sawe of Kenya, spoke to BBC Sport before making his way to the start line.
Not much pressure on me because I run my own race, and it is only the best moment to be here. To be here again and to be a defending champion.
Being unbeaten in races is something special even in my life because it is just me. I am unique.
I see [myself setting a new world record]. It is only a matter of time.
Here they go! And then right behind them … everyone else!
Elite women’s race: We are approaching the 30min mark in this race. The main contenders are still all keeping pace with the pacers. They should be pulling away soon.
World records: 76 people will be attempting 73 different Guinness World Records titles today.
Arnie Delstanche holds the record for fastest marathon in a full-body inflatable costume by a male and returns today in his full-body inflatable T-rex costume to improve his time of 4:07:46.
Mark Goulder will attempt the fastest marathon blindfolded and tethered by a male, with a target time of 3:20:00. His guide is his close friend Alex. Goulder’s attempt is inspired by his younger brother Bobby, who was diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease, a rare condition that causes progressive vision loss.
Simon Fannon will be one of the few who will want to run as slow as possible today as he hopes to knit the longest scarf while running the marathon. The minimum mark to beat is 3.7m and he has six hours to do it. He runs for the Huntington’s Disease Association after his mother’s diagnosis.
Do you know anyone attempting a world record? I want to hear about it so get in touch!
The UK’s leading end of life charity, Marie Curie, is the official charity of the 2026 London Marathon. Marie Curie aims to raise awareness and funds for terminal illness and are hoping to raise £2m.
Elite women’s race: Hellen Obiri is hoping to challenge Tigst Assefa, with the Kenyan making her London debut after consistently racing in New York and Boston, where they do not use pacers.
Elite women’s race: The women’s elite are being introduced on the start line. Tigst Assefa beat the world women’s-only marathon record with her run here in London last year and she returns as defending champion. The Ethiopian has also not been shy in saying that she will attempt her own world record.
Keep your eyes out for Eilish McColgan, who made her marathon debut last year in London and Jess Warner-Judd, who is returning to running after being diagnosed with epilepsy.
And off they go!
Elite women’s wheelchair race: Leading the way is the heavy favourite Catherine Debrunner but Vanessa Cristina de Souza and Manuela Schär are right behind her.
Elite women’s wheelchair race: Still unclear what happened but Rainbow-Cooper has just started the race, about five minutes after her competition. She was aiming for a podium spot today.
Elite women’s wheelchair race: We are just hearing that Great Britain’s Eden Rainbow-Cooper did not actually end up starting the race.
Elite wheelchair race: And they are off! Women on the left side of the course, men on the right.
Elite wheelchair race: It looked like we may have had a delay in the start of the race as Great Britain’s Eden Rainbow-Cooper had a puncture but because it was before the race – and not during – she was allowed help to switch in one of her spares.
Official starters: Great Britain’s four-time Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah returns to the London Marathon for the first time since retiring from athletics in 2024. Seen as the greatest British endurance athlete in history, Farah is also the British record holder for the marathon. He will be joined on the starter’s podium by Red Roses Rugby World Cup-winning star Ellie Kildunne, fresh off the back of England’s Six Nations game against Wales taking place the day before.
The pair will be the official starters for the elite wheelchair, elite women’s and elite men’s races, as well as the mass start, sending more than 59,000 participants on their way from Blackheath to the Mall.
The prodigious growth of running clubs, fuelled by young women, has seen the popularity of the London Marathon sky-rocket.
More than 1.1 million people entered the ballot for this year’s race – 750,000 more than four years ago. Notably, a third of those were in the 18-29 category, with female entrants making up the biggest percentage of those under 30.
The explosion in this new breed of running clubs or “crews” has been key to the boom. Unlike a traditional club, their emphasis isn’t usually on super-fast times but on being inclusive, enjoying a run and a chat, and a coffee afterwards.
And it is gen Z women who are embracing them most of all. According to Jenny Mannion, who founded the female-running group Runners and Stunners in 2023, it is because they are searching for different real-life experiences after the pandemic than millennials like her.
Read more from Sean Ingle below.
Preamble
After some incredible weather for the past seven days, the week in the capital is ending on a high note with the 2026 London Marathon.
The elite field is stacked, as always. On the men’s side, Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe is hoping to defend his title after a victory in 2025 with a time of 2:02:27. He faces tough competition against Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, the half marathon world record-holder and Ethiopia’s Deresa Geleta, who became the 20th fastest marathoner in history with a time of 2:03:27 at the 2024 Seville Marathon.
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa won the women’s title last year after a women-only world record time 2:15:50. Her consistency in major races across the year makes her a heavy favourite, but last years runner-up, Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei, is aiming to do one better.
Switzerland’s Marcel Hug is the greatest marathon wheelchair racer in history. The three-time Paralympic marathon champion has won more Abbott World Marathon Majors than anyone else in history with 42 and a win today would pull him level with David Weir as the most successful athlete in London Marathon history.
The women’s wheelchair record holder, Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner, is not just aiming for the title, which she won last year, but the world record, which she missed by just two seconds in 2025. At the 2024 Paris Paralympics she won a five gold medals in the 400m, 800m, 1,500m, 5,000m and marathon distances.
After the start of the elite races, nearly 60,000 will then head off and have at the 26.2 miles (42.195 km) across the capital.
As always, send me your thoughts, predictions, questions and comments. Do you know anyone racing today? Are you gearing up to take the London streets? I want to know so send me an email!
Elite men’s and women’s wheelchair race – 8.50am (all times BST)
Elite women’s race – 9.05am
Elite men’s race and mass start – 9.35am
