We witnessed a new era in marathon running at the 46th TCS London Marathon on Sunday, 26th April 2026. After wondering if a man would ever run the classic 26.2-mile distance in under two hours under official race conditions, two men achieved this epochal feat, making London the fastest marathon in the world!

This was a race for the ages, a breakthrough on a par with the first sub-four-minute mile, and there is a tenuous link to both achievements. On 6th May 1954, the 'father' of the London Marathon, Chris Brasher, was a pacemaker on the Iffley Road track in Oxford, when Roger Bannister ran 3:59.4. Fast-forward 72 years, Hugh Brasher, the son of Chris, was the proud Event Director of the TCS London Marathon, when another seemingly impossible barrier was broken.

After a brisk, but by today's standards unremarkable halfway split of 1:00:29, with six runners still in contention, the defending champion Sabastian Sawe (Kenya) slowly turned up the wick until only Yomif Kejelcha (Ethiopia) – on his debut marathon – and Jacob Kiplimo (Uganda) could stand the heat.

The finishing speed was incredible as Sawe ran 59:01 for the second half to take the world record down 65 seconds to 1:59:30. Kejelcha became the second athlete to smash two hours with a stunning 1:59:41. Kiplimo (2:00:28) was also inside the old world record.

Mahamed Mahamed (Southampton AC, 2:06:14 PB) was the best of the Brits in tenth place, four seconds ahead of Patrick Dever (Preston Harriers) – those two athletes moving to second and third UK all-time behind Sir Mo Farah's British record (2:05:11).

The elite women's race also produced a new world record for a women-only marathon. Tigst Assefa (Ethiopia) retained her London crown in 2:15:41, nine seconds inside her own world best, after finally dropping her dogged challengers in front of Buckingham Palace. Hellen Obiri (Kenya, 2:15:53) and Joyciline Jepkosgei (Kenya, 2:15:55) were the runners-up – the first time three women have finished inside 2:16:00 in a marathon.

Eilish McColgan (Dundee Hawkhill Harriers, 2:24:51) led the GB challenge in seventh place, one higher than when she set the Scottish record (2:24:25) last year. McColgan finished bloodied and in pain, with a severe blister on one foot. Rose Harvey (Clapham Chasers, 2:26:14), Louise Small (Aldershot Farnham & District AC, 2:28:29) and Jess Warner-Judd (Blackburn Harriers, 2:29:28 – debut) were all in the top dozen on a promising day for British marathon running.

As the sun set after a warm afternoon in the capital, the TCS London Marathon set the final record of the day with the Guinness World Record for the largest number of finishers in a marathon with a total of 59,830 to eclipse the 59,226 set by the TCS New York City Marathon in November 2025.

Results and previous reports are at the runABC race listing here.

Photo courtesy of London Marathon Events