The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, England. It is the largest marathon in the world, with over 53,700 finishers in 2024, and 840,318 applicants for the 2025 event. 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.
Paula Jane Radcliffe MBE is a former British long-distance runner. She is a three-time winner of the London Marathon, three-time New York Marathon champion, the 2002 Chicago Marathon winner and the 2005 World Champion in the Marathon from Helsinki. She was previously the fastest female marathoner of all time, and held the Women's World Marathon Record with a time of 2:15:25 for 16 years from 2003 to 2019 when it was broken by Brigid Kosgei.
The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 finishers in 2019 and 98,247 applicants for the 2017 race. Along with the Boston Marathon and Chicago Marathon, it is among the pre-eminent long-distance annual running events in the United States and is one of the World Marathon Majors.
Sonia O'Sullivan is an Irish former track and field athlete. She won a gold medal in the 5000 metres at the 1995 World Championships, and a silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 2000 Olympic Games. Her 2000 m world record of 5:25.36, set in 1994 stood until 2017.
Tirunesh Dibaba is an Ethiopian athlete who competes in long-distance track events and international road races. She has won three Olympic track gold medals, five World Championship track gold medals, four individual World Cross Country (WCC) adult titles, and one individual WCC junior title. Tirunesh was the 5,000 metres world record holder until 2020 when her compatriot Letesenbet Gidey set a new world record. She is nicknamed the "baby-faced destroyer."
The Dublin Marathon is an annual 26.2 mile road marathon in Dublin, Ireland, held on the last Sunday in October. Prior to 2016, the race took place on the last Monday in October, which is a public holiday in Ireland. Held each year since 1980, the marathon had a record 22,500 registrants for the 2019 race, including over 5,000 entrants from outside Ireland.
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.
Fionnuala McCormack is an Irish runner who has competed at a range of distance running events. She was the gold medallist at the 2011 and 2012 European Cross Country Championships, become the first woman to successfully defend the title. She has represented Ireland in the steeplechase at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics, the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and 2011 World Championships in Athletics, and twice at the European Athletics Championships.
The women's marathon was one of the road events at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, Finland. It took place on 7 August 1983, starting and finishing at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. The race was won by Norway's Grete Waitz in 2:28:09, ahead of Marianne Dickerson of the United States in second and the Soviet Union's Raisa Smekhnova in third.
Genzebe Dibaba Keneni is an Ethiopian middle- and long-distance runner. A 1,500 metres 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist, she won a gold medal in this event and a bronze in the 5,000 metres at the 2015 World Championships. Genzebe is the current world record holder for the indoor events of the one mile, 3,000m and 5,000m.
Marie Davenport is a female long-distance runner from Ireland. She first took part in the 1996 Summer Olympics as a participant in the 5,000 metres, and later in the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich is a Kenyan professional athlete who specialises in long-distance running, competing in events ranging from 10 km to the marathon. He was the bronze medallist in the marathon at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He is the former world record holder in the marathon with a time of 2:03:23, which he set at the 2013 Berlin Marathon. He has run under 2 hours 4 minutes for the marathon on four occasions.
Atsede Bayisa Tesema, also known as Atsede Bayisa, is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialises in road running events. She has won the Chicago Marathon, Boston Marathon and Paris Marathon twice. She has also won at the Xiamen International Marathon and the Istanbul Marathon.
The 2010 Chicago Marathon was the 33rd running of the annual marathon race in Chicago, United States, held on Sunday, October 10. Over 38,000 runners took part, the most in the race's history.
Caitriona Jennings is an Irish long distance runner who competed in the marathon at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom.
The 2013 London Marathon was the 33rd running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 21 April. The men's elite race was won by Ethiopia's Tsegaye Kebede and the women's race was won by Kenyan Priscah Jeptoo. Australian Kurt Fearnley won the men's wheelchair race, while American Tatyana McFadden won the women's wheelchair race with a new course record of 1:46:02.
The 2014 London Marathon was the 34th running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 13 April. The men's elite race was won by Kenyan Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich and the women's race was won by Kenyan Edna Kiplagat. The men's wheelchair race was won by Switzerland's Marcel Hug and the women's wheelchair race was won by American Tatyana McFadden. Kipsang and McFadden set course records.
The 2015 London Marathon was the 35th running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 26 April. The men's elite race was won by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and the women's race was won by Ethiopian Tigist Tufa. The 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships marathon events were also held during the race. The men's wheelchair race was won by Josh George from the United States and the women's wheelchair race was won by American Tatyana McFadden. McFadden set a course record for the second year running.
The Lagos Marathon is a gold label marathon held annually in Lagos, Nigeria.
The 2017 London Marathon was the 37th running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 23 April. Mary Jepkosgei Keitany won the women's race, setting a new women-only marathon world record with a time of 2:17:01, while Daniel Wanjiru came first in the men's race in 2:05:48. David Weir claimed a record breaking seventh win at the London Marathon in the men's wheelchair event. The win broke a tie between Weir and Tanni Gray Thompson for the most wins at the London Marathon.
Sonia O'Sullivan 
