The London Marathon has been a fixture on the global running calendar since its inaugural edition in 1981, and over the past four decades the event has generated more than £1.4 billion for charitable causes. As one of the six Abbott World Marathon Majors – alongside Tokyo, Boston, Berlin, Chicago, New York City and, from 2025, Sydney – the race attracts elite athletes, mass‑participation runners and a host of high‑profile personalities each spring. Traditionally staged in April, the marathon was temporarily shifted to October between 2020 and 2022 because of the COVID‑19 pandemic. This year the event returns to its usual spring slot, with the wheelchair competition kicking off at 08:50 am on Sunday, followed by the women’s elite field at 09:05 am.
The men’s elite race and the mass‑start for the bulk of participants begin at 09:35 am. The 2026 course follows the classic London route.
Runners line up in three colour‑coded waves – Red, Blue and Green – from either Greenwich Park or Blackheath. By the third mile, near Charlton, the three streams converge and the race proceeds westward through Woolwich, skirting the historic Cutty Sark, before threading through Deptford, Surrey Quays and Rotherhithe. At the 20 km point the course reaches the iconic London Bridge, then turns east toward the modern skyline of Canary Wharf and the Isle of Dogs.
After a loop back through Shadwell and Wapping, the route passes Tower Hill, heads toward Blackfriars, and follows the Thames Embankment with the London Eye on the left and Big Ben looming ahead. Runners cross Westminster, swing past St James’s Park, glide by Buckingham Palace and finish on The Mall, providing a spectacular backdrop for the final sprint. A record‑breaking number of entrants is expected this weekend. After a world‑record 1.13 million ballot applications, organisers anticipate more than 59,000 runners at the start line.
The 2025 edition produced 56 640 finishers, a figure that held the world record until it was eclipsed by the TCS New York City Marathon, which logged 59 226 finishers in November. Among the celebrity participants, four‑time Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel will run to support the Brain & Spine Foundation and the Grand Prix Trust. Legendary jockey Sir Anthony (AP) McCoy is tackling his first marathon on behalf of the Matt Hampson Foundation. Olympians Dame Laura Kenny (raising funds for The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust) and Sir Ben Ainslie (backing the 1851 Trust) are also slated to take part, as are former Arsenal captain Tony Adams (The Forward Trust), ex‑England cricketer Sir Alastair Cook (the Ruth Strauss Foundation) and former tennis star Laura Robson (Give It Your Max).
In a whimsical twist, the animated character Daddy Pig will appear both on‑screen and in person, with a runner dressed in a specially made costume representing the National Deaf Children’s Society, coinciding with a new episode of the children’s series Peppa Pig. Other notable names include actor Jack O'Connell (Alzheimer’s Research UK), James Norton from House of Guinness (Breakthrough T1D) and McFly drummer Harry Judd. A full roster of celebrity runners can be consulted on the official marathon website. The official starters for the 2026 race will be distance‑running legend Sir Mo Farah – returning to the London Marathon for the first time since his retirement in 2024 – and England women’s rugby star Ellie Kildunne, fresh from a Six Nations clash against Wales the day before.
Past starters have featured royalty such as Queen Elizabeth II, sporting greats like Sir Andy Murray, Lionesses captain Leah Williamson OBE, Jill Scott MBE, Ellen White MBE, Sir Steve Redgrave and Dame Kelly Holmes. The elite fields are stacked with defending champions: Sebastian Sawe (men’s), Tigist Assefa (women’s), Marcel Hug (men’s wheelchair) and Catherine Debrunner (women’s wheelchair).
Assefa, who shattered the women‑only marathon record on her 2025 victory, leads the women’s pack, though Olympic champion Sifan Hassan has withdrawn with an Achilles injury. The men’s race is likely to be a tactical duel between Sawe and Jacob Kiplimo, who set the half‑marathon world record earlier this year, with Ethiopia’s Deresa Geleta and Kenya’s Amos Kipruto also in contention. In the wheelchair division, Marcel Hug can equal British Paralympian David Weir’s record of six London Marathon wins if he repeats his 2023 triumph.
Catherine Debrunner, who missed the course record by just two seconds last year, will be looking to add another title to her three victories in the past four years. Weather forecasts predict a dry day with intermittent sunshine, light breezes and temperatures starting around 10 °C (50 °F) and climbing to a mild 17 °C (63 °F) by mid‑afternoon – conditions that are generally favourable for fast times.
The current course records stand at 2:01:25 for men, set by Kelvin Kiptum in 2023, and 2:15:50 for women, posted by Tigist Assefa in 2022. Hug’s five‑year streak in the men’s wheelchair race and Debrunner’s three wins in the women’s category underscore the event’s competitive depth. Spectators are expected to line the streets in the hundreds of thousands, with the areas around the Cutty Sark, Tower Bridge and Canary Wharf traditionally drawing the largest crowds.
Runners can be tracked in real time via the official TCS London Marathon app, which allows supporters to follow participants by name or bib number. Looking ahead, the next edition of the marathon is scheduled for Sunday, 25 April 2027.
The public ballot for the 2027 race opens at 09:00 am on Friday, 24 April, and closes at 16:00 pm on Friday, 1 May, giving hopeful entrants another chance to join this celebrated sporting spectacle.