A star-studded field is set for the 45th edition of the London Marathon, with this year's event aiming to break the world record for the most finishers in a marathon.
With more than 56,000 people expected to run, the race could surpass the 55,646 finishers at last year's New York Marathon. The streets of London will be packed with people running for causes close to their hearts, some pursuing their own records and being cheered throughout the 26.2 miles by electric crowds.
Kenya's Alexander Mutiso Munyao won the men's race last year, with compatriot Peres Jepchirchir victorious in a women's. Eliud Kipchoge, who became the first athlete to run a marathon in under two hours in 2019 and is widely regarded as the greatest distance runner in history, returns for the first time since 2020.
The record four-time winner is joined in the elite men's race by defending champion Munyao and Ethiopia's Olympic champion Tamirat Tola, but Kipchoge's long-time rival Kenenisa Bekele was a late withdrawal. Half marathon world record holder Jacob Kiplimo will make his debut after becoming the first person to run a half marathon in under 57 minutes in February.
Amongst the thousands running for a cause away from sport, David Stancombe and Sergio Aguiar (pic) - whose daughters were killed at a dance class in Southport last year – will be raising money for projects established in their daughters' memory. Alice Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6, died last July while they attended a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop.
Mr Aguiar said that he talks to Alice when he's running alone. "I tell her to keep going with me, that we're going to do this together, you're going to be with me - always."
Mr Stancombe says his daughter would be very proud of his efforts. The pair had watched coverage of the marathon on TV last year and she told him he should run the race in honour of her grandmother.
“Our daughters will be with us in spirit as we run the London Marathon,” they said. A stacked line-up in this year's elite women's race features two of the three fastest women in history in Olympic champion Sifan Hassan and Paris 2024 silver medallist Tigst Assefa, with all four reigning Olympic and Paralympic marathon champions set be present.
Swiss athletes Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner will be contesting the elite wheelchair events. Olympic and world triathlon champion Alex Yee will make his highly anticipated marathon debut, with Mahamed Mahamed and Philip Sesemann among the British men aiming to star towards the front.
Eilish McColgan will make her debut at this year's London Marathon, competing over 26.2 miles for the first time, while record eight-time winner David Weir returns for his 26th consecutive appearance in the men's wheelchair race. In the women's event, last year's Boston Marathon champion Eden Rainbow-Cooper will aim to improve on her best London finish of third in 2022.
Well-known footballers including former Arsenal and England midfielder Jack Wilshere, and former Juventus and Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci will be two of more than 56,000 expected to compete in the world's largest annual one-day fundraising event - with more than £1.3bn raised for charity since 1981.
There will be 103 participants attempting to break 87 Guinness World Records at this year's London Marathon.
