The London Marathon is back for another edition as professional athletes and the general public alike take on the 26-mile course through the nation’s capital
It is London Marathon day and approximately 56,000 runners are making their way to Greenwich in pursuit of fast times, fun and, for many, a life-changing experience.
While all will cross the same iconic finish line on the Mall, with Buckingham Palace behind them, the athletes are going to start from three different points in Greenwich to ease congestion.
It will take more than 90 minutes for the back markers to get moving with the speedsters given priority for obvious reasons. And the race start times will also be scattered, beginning with the elite wheelchair athletes getting the show underway at a little after 9am.
Here are the planned start times from the front of the pack to the back.
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Elite wheelchair race – 8:50am
For the second time after last year achieving parity, the top wheelchair racers will be given the same prize money and they also have the honour of getting the race underway. But to accommodate the increased number of participants the start time has been moved to the slightly earlier time of 8:50am – a quarter of an hour earlier than last year’.
Elite women’s race – 9:05am
The women’s race promises fireworks despite world record holder Ruth Chepngetich withdrawing last week. Olympic champion and 2023 winner Sifan Hassan is among the favourites and will lock horns with former world record holder Tigst Assefa after they physically tussled during the final metres in Paris last summer. British interest is headlined by debutant Eilish McColgan, with Rose Harvey and Charlotte Purdue in the race for the national title.
Elite men’s race – 9:35am
With the top women about a fifth of the way through their race, the elite men will get moving. British hope Emile Cairess may be absent because of injury but that means even more focus on triathlon star Alex Yee as he experiments with the “magical distance.” Then there is much fascination around Eliud Kipchoge’s potential last run in London, while Jacob Kiplimo is promising something sensational having recently obliterated the half marathon world record. Yet Sebastian Sawe, 2024’s fastest man, and Tamirat Tola, the Olympic champ, will also be in the reckoning.
The masses – from 9:35am
Immediately behind the top men will be the British Championship runners, effectively the best club men and women in the country, followed by those who have qualified with Good For Age times and then a steady, lengthy stream of charity and fun runners including plenty of famous faces. A record 56,000 people will be starting – meaning more waves from the three starting points and an expectation that it will take about 90 minutes for the slowest expected finishers to get going.
