The London Marathon has been a cornerstone of the global running calendar since its inaugural edition in 1981, and over the past four decades it 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 enjoys a reputation for elite competition, massive public support and a spectacular tour of the capital. Historically the event has been staged in April, but the COVID‑19 pandemic forced a temporary shift to October for the 2020‑2022 editions.
This year the marathon returns to its spring slot, with the wheelchair competition kicking off at 8:50 a.m. on Sunday, followed by the women’s elite field at 9:05 a.m.
The men’s elite race and the mass‑participation start are scheduled for 9:35 a.m. The 2026 route mirrors the classic London Marathon circuit.
Runners line up at three colour‑coded starting zones – Red, Blue and Green – located in Greenwich Park and Blackheath. By the third mile, near Charlton, the three streams converge into a single pack that heads westward through Woolwich, skirts the historic Cutty Sark, then weaves through Deptford, Surrey Quays and Rotherhithe. At the 20 km mark the course passes the iconic London Bridge before turning east toward Canary Wharf and the Isle of Dogs.
After looping back through the bustling districts of Shadwell and Wapping, participants cross Tower Hill, race past Blackfriars, and follow the River Thames along the Embankment. The London Eye looms to the left, Big Ben rises ahead, and the route sweeps past Westminster, St James’s Park, and Buckingham Palace before the final sprint down The Mall to the finish line.
A detailed map of the course is available on the official marathon website. Organisers anticipate a record‑breaking field this weekend. After a world‑record 1.13 million ballot applications, more than 59,000 runners are expected to line up at the start. The 2025 edition produced 56,640 finishers – a world record at the time – a figure later surpassed by the TCS New York City Marathon, which logged 59,226 finishers in November.
The celebrity roster for this year’s marathon is especially star‑studded. Four‑time Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel will be running 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. Olympic champions Dame Laura Kenny (raising funds for The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust) and Sir Ben Ainslie (supporting the 1851 Trust) are also confirmed, as are former Arsenal and England captain Tony Adams (The Forward Trust), ex‑England cricketer Sir Alastair Cook (the Ruth Strauss Foundation) and former tennis pro Laura Robson (Give It Your Max).
In a whimsical twist, the animated character Daddy Pig will appear both on screen and in the streets, with a costumed runner representing the National Deaf Children’s Society and an upcoming episode of the children’s series Peppa Pig featuring the marathon. Actors and musicians are joining the cause as well: Jack O’Connell of "Skins" (Alzheimer’s Research UK), James Norton from "House of the Guinness" (Breakthrough T1D), and McFly drummer Harry Judd are all slated to run. A complete list of celebrity participants can be found on the marathon’s official site.
Sporting legends Sir Mo Farah and England women’s rugby star Ellie Kildunne will serve as the official starters for the 2026 edition. Farah returns to the London Marathon for the first time since his retirement from track in 2024, while Kildunne, fresh from England’s Six Nations clash against Wales the previous day, will join him at the front of the pack. Past starters have included royalty and sporting greats such as Queen Elizabeth II, Sir Andy Murray, Lionesses captain Leah Williamson OBE, Jill Scott MBE, Ellen White MBE, Sir Steve Redgrave and Dame Kelly Holmes.
The elite races feature all four defending champions: Sebastian Sawe (men’s elite), Tigist Assefa (women’s elite), Marcel Hug (men’s wheelchair) and Catherine Debrunner (women’s wheelchair). The official elite start list is published on the marathon’s website. Assefa entered the race as the favourite after shattering the women‑only world record on her victory last year, although Olympic champion Sifan Hassan withdrew with an Achilles injury. The men’s title fight is expected to be a tight duel between Sawe and Jacob Kiplimo, who set the half‑marathon world record earlier in 2024, with Ethiopian Deresa Geleta and Kenyan Amos Kipruto also in contention.
In the wheelchair division, Marcel Hug aims to equal British Paralympian David Weir’s record of six London Marathon wins, while Catherine Debrunner seeks to add a fourth victory after missing the course record by just two seconds in 2025. The weather forecast calls for dry conditions, intermittent sunshine and light breezes. Temperatures should hover around 10 °C (50 °F) at the start, climbing to a pleasant 17 °C (63 °F) by mid‑afternoon. The current course records stand at 2:01:25 for men (set by Kelvin Kiptum in 2023) and 2:15:50 for women (set by Assefa in 2024).
Hug’s five‑year streak in the men’s wheelchair race includes a course‑record performance in 2023, while Debrunner has claimed three of the last four women’s wheelchair titles. Spectators are expected to line the streets in the hundreds of thousands, with the sections around the Cutty Sark, Tower Bridge and Canary Wharf drawing the densest crowds.
Runners can be tracked in real time via the official TCS London Marathon app, which allows supporters to follow any participant 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 9 a.m.
on Friday, 24 April, and closes at 4 p.m. on Friday, 1 May, giving hopeful entrants a narrow window to secure their place in what promises to be another historic chapter of the London Marathon story.