London Marathon

London Marathon
Date	April
Location	London, United Kingdom
Event type	Road
Distance	Marathon
Established	29 March 1981; 43 years ago (1981-03-29)
Course records	Men: 2:01:25 (Kelvin Kiptum, 2023) Women: 2:15:25 (Paula Radcliffe, 2003) Wheelchair men: 1:23:44 (Marcel Hug, 2023) Wheelchair women: 1:38:24 (Catherine Debrunner, 2022)
Official site	www.tcslondonmarathon.com
2024 London Marathon

The London Marathon (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. It is the third-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 (son of Chris) is the current race director and Nick Bitel its chief executive.

The race has several components: it has a mass race for the public, professional races for men and women long-distance runners, elite level wheelchair races for men and women, plus a 3-mile mini marathon event for under-17 athletes. The mass race is the largest marathon event in the United Kingdom and its third-largest running event (after the Great North Run and Great Manchester Run). There is a significant charity running aspect to the marathon, with participants helping to raise over £1 billion since its founding, including £66.4 million at the 2019 London Marathon which was the highest amount for a single-day fund-raising event.^[1]

Since 2006, the elite race has been part of the World Marathon Majors, which includes six of the world's top level marathon races. The London Marathon has seen the marathon world record broken on seven occasions: Khalid Khannouchi broke the men's record in 2002, while women's records have been broken by Grete Waitz (1983), Ingrid Kristiansen (1985), Paula Radcliffe (2002, 2003, 2005) and Mary Jepkosgei Keitany (2017). The current elite course records are held by Kelvin Kiptum (2:01:25 in 2023) and Paula Radcliffe (2:15:25 in 2003). The current wheelchair course records are held by Marcel Hug (1:23:44 in 2023) and Catherine Debrunner (1:38:24 in 2022). The race often has a title sponsorship, it has been branded the "TCS London Marathon" since 2022.