The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, England. It is the second-largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to October for 2020, 2021, and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The largely flat course is set around the River Thames, starting in Blackheath and finishing at The Mall. Hugh Brasher is the current race director and Nick Bitel its chief executive.
Kenenisa Bekele Beyecha is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5,000-metre and 10,000-metre from 2004 until 2020. He won the gold medal in both the 5,000 m and 10,000 m events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At the 2004 Olympics, he won the gold medal in the 10,000 m and the silver medal in the 5,000 m.
The Chicago Marathon is a marathon race held every October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the six World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is the fourth-largest race by number of finishers worldwide.
Sir Brendan Foster is a British former long-distance runner, athletics commentator and road race organiser. He founded the Great North Run, one of the sport's most high profile half-marathon races. As an athlete, he won the bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the 1976 Summer Olympics and the gold medal in the 5,000 metres at the 1974 European Championships and the 10,000 metres at the 1978 Commonwealth Games. He later provided commentary and analysis on athletics, particularly long-distance events, for BBC Sport.
Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah is a British-Somali retired long-distance runner. Considered one of the greatest runners of all time, his ten global championship gold medals make him the most successful male track distance runner ever, and he is the most successful British track athlete in modern Olympic Games history. Farah is the first ever global Goodwill Ambassador of the International Organisation for Migration as announced on 28 November 2023 at the 114th Session of the IOM Council.
The Great Bristol Half Marathon is an annual road running event held on the streets of Bristol, UK. The route is at sea level and starts on Anchor Road outside We The Curious. Participants make their way toward Hotwells before heading under the Clifton Suspension Bridge and along the Portway toward Sea Mills before returning the same way then navigating around Cumberland Basin then along Spike Island before crossing Prince Street Bridge, circling Queen Square then heading to Castle Park via St Mary Redcliffe and Temple Circus. The final mile and a half take place in the Old City and Bristol city centre before crossing the finish line back at Anchor Road.
The Principality Building Society Cardiff Half Marathon is an annual half marathon race held in the Welsh capital city of Cardiff, taking place in October. The event was established in 2003, initially alongside the Cardiff Marathon, however, due to the increasing popularity of the Half Marathon, the Marathon distance was dropped after 2006. The race was originally organised by the children’s charity Barnardo’s. Now organised by Run 4 Wales, the race has grown to accommodate up to 27,500 runners.
The Great South Run is an annual 10 mile (16.09 km) road running race which takes place in Portsmouth, United Kingdom providing an intermediate distance between the ten kilometre and the half marathon (21.097 km) runs. Launched in 1990, it is part of the Great Run series created by former British athlete Brendan Foster. It was originally held in Southampton, but the race moved to its current course after the first edition.
The Great Manchester Run is an annual run through Greater Manchester. It has consisted of a 10k run since it was established in 2003, and a half marathon since 2017. The 10k race is the largest of its type in Europe. Usually held in mid-May, it is the third-largest mass participation running event in the United Kingdom, behind the Great North Run and the London Marathon. It is part of the Great Run series of road races in the UK. It was formerly sponsored by Bupa (2003–2014) and Morrisons (2015).
The Perkins Great Eastern Run is a running event that takes place every year in Peterborough, United Kingdom, generally in mid-October. The event returned in 2006 after a 10-year absence and is rapidly gaining popularity. Currently, there are three races in the whole event:
Christopher Thompson is a British long-distance runner, who won the silver medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2010 European Athletics Championships in Barcelona, on 27 July 2010 behind his compatriot Mo Farah. Prior to his 2010 medal win he had won the European U23 5000 m Championship in 2003. However he was initially unable to build on this victory, as he had substantial injury problems for a number of years. He is currently coached by Alan Storey.
The Great North 10K, styled as the Simplyhealth Great North 10K for sponsorship purposes, is a 10K road run, which has been called "the North East's biggest 10K running event", with over 5,000 people taking part. It is part of the Great Run series and the number of participants is only outnumbered by the Great North Run. The race in its present format was first staged in Sunderland in 2009 but changed locations to Gateshead for the 2011 event. Prior to 2009, a 10K race had taken place at Roker along the coastline of Sunderland but the event was only open to female competitors; when it changed to permit male participants, it was re-styled as the Great North 10K. In 2013, the date was brought forward to become the official running event partner of the 2013 European Team Championships.
Bashir Abdi is a Somali-born Belgian long-distance runner. He won bronze medals in the marathon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2022 World Championships. In doing so, Abdi became both the first ever Belgian world championship medal winner at the marathon and the first Belgian male athlete to win an individual medal at both the Olympic Games and World Athletics Championships. He claimed silver in the 10,000 metres at the 2018 European Championships. He finished second and third at the 2020 Tokyo Marathon and 2022 London Marathon respectively. Abdi is the European record holder for the marathon.
The 34th Great North Run took place on 7 September 2014 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, United Kingdom with the men's and women's elite races and wheelchair races. After having been narrowly beaten by Kenenisa Bekele in 2013, Mo Farah was rooted to become the first Briton since Steve Kenyon in 1985 to win the men's race and the first in any elite race since Paula Radcliffe won the 2003 women's race. He broke the 29-year duck, helped by the absence of 2013 champion Bekele, and was only the third Briton to win the Men's Elite race.
The 35th Great North Run took place on 13 September 2015 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, United Kingdom with the men's and women's elite races and wheelchair races. World 5000 metres and 10,000 metres champion Mo Farah won the men's race for the second year in a row. He became the first British man to defend his title since Mike McLeod won the first two events in 1981 and 1982, and is only the third man to achieve such a feat; Kenyan Benson Masya is the only other male athlete to have defended his title. Kenyan Mary Keitany also won the women's race for a second consecutive year, the first woman to do so since Liz McColgan in 1996.
Callum Robert Hawkins is a British distance runner, who competed in the marathon at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He is the Scottish record holder in the marathon and the British all-time number three at that distance behind Mo Farah and Steve Jones. Hawkins is also the all-time Great Britain number two in the half marathon. He is the Great Scottish Run course record holder and was the first British man to win that event in 23 years.
The 37th Great North Run took place on 10 September 2017 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, United Kingdom with the men's and women's elite races and wheelchair races. Olympic and World champion Mo Farah, in his first race since ending his career on the track, won the Great North Run for the fourth year in a row. He became the first man to win the run four years in a row. Mary Keitany won the women's race for the third time in four years.
Brigid Jepchirchir Kosgei is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon. She won the 2018 and 2019 Chicago Marathons, the 2019 and 2020 London Marathons and the 2021 Tokyo Marathon. Kosgei was the marathon world record holder for women running in a mixed-sex race, with a time of 2:14:04 achieved on 13 October 2019 at the Chicago Marathon. She won the silver medal in the marathon event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The Big Half is an annual road running event over the half marathon distance (21.1 km), held in central London, United Kingdom. The event, first held in 2018, initially took place in early March, a few weeks before the London Marathon, but after the COVID-19 pandemic switched to dates in late August/early September.
The 2022 London Marathon was the 42nd running of the annual London Marathon on 2 October 2022. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the race was postponed from April until October to maximise the chances of a mass participation event. The elite men's and women's event were won by Kenyan Amos Kipruto and Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw respectively. The wheelchair races were won by Swiss athletes Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner respectively, both in course record times. Over 40,000 people finished the mass participation event.
Martin Mathathi 58:56
