London Marathon 2025 LIVE: Sabastian Sawe wins men’s race as Tigst Assefa sets world record
The London Marathon is prepared for a record-breaking year with over 56,000 people expected to take part
The 2025 London Marathon starts this morning with event organisers hoping to break the record for the world’s largest marathon. Over 56,000 people have signed up to tackle the 26.2-mile course ahead of the 45th annual London Marathon, with many raising funds for charities and good causes.
Organisers also assembled strong fields for the men’s and women’s elite races. Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s event for his biggest career victory after making a solo breakaway with about 10km left, and finished in 2hr 2min and 27sec. The great Eliud Kipchoge finished sixth as British triathlete Alex Yee came home in 14th place.
In the women’s race, Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa shattered the women's-only world record, pulling away from Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenya over the final couple of kilometres after the two had set a blistering early pace. The 28-year-old Assefa, silver medallist in the event at the 2024 Paris Olympics, crossed the finish line in 2 hr, 15 min and 50 sec, beating the previous women's-only record set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir. Britain’s Eilish McColgan finished eigthh.
Follow live updates from the 2025 London Marathon in our blog below.
Marcel Hug wins men's wheelchair race!
The supreme Swiss athlete Marcel Hug has made it a remarkable five in a row at the London Marathon, and in doing so wins his seventh in total.
Japan’s Tomoki Suzuki gave chase but couldn’t keep pace and finishes second.
Sifan Hassan off the pace in women's race
Sifan Hassan has slipped back from the lead group of three and it looks like it won’t be her day here. Tigst Assefa and Joyciline Jepkosgei have been absolutely relentless at the front and they are not letting up as they near the business end of this marathon.
Kipchoge pushes pace in men's marathon
The men’s elite race is through 10km and 15 seconds behind the world record split. Eliud Kipchoge has been tucked behind the lead group for much of the race so far but he comes to the fore briefly as if to nudge the pace up a notch.
Alex Yee enters the unknown at London Marathon and invites you with him
Even for Olympic champions, the days before running the London Marathon bring a mixture of nerves and excitement. Alex Yee is no exception. The world triathlon champion and gold medal winner in Paris last summer, his first attempt at the marathon distance will start on home turf, and he has been open and honest about the challenge he faces.
Alex Yee enters the unknown at London Marathon and invites you with him
Why Jacob Kiplimo’s London Marathon debut will have the whole world watching
To many, it was the unthinkable. To Jacob Kiplimo, it was “the perfect race”. In February, the 24-year-old Ugandan didn’t just reclaim the half-marathon world record, he obliterated it: his time of 56 minutes and 42 seconds in Barcelona was 48 seconds faster than the previous mark. World Athletics said it was the greatest single improvement on the men’s half marathon ever recorded.
And the most impressive part? Kiplimo may have been just warming up. He confirmed shortly afterwards that he would not compete again until his debut over the full distance, until the London Marathon today.
Why Jacob Kiplimo’s London Marathon debut will have the whole world watching
London Marathon 2025 under way!
The mass participation race begins with a hooter sounded by Denise Lewis, and the frontrunners of the 57,000-strong field are away!
One of those is Paula Radcliffe’s daughter, who will be out on the course today raising money for Children with Cancer UK:
London Marathon: Elite men's field
Eliud Kipchoge, widely known as the greatest marathon runner of all time, will return to London for the first time since 2020 and chase a fifth victory. Jacob Kiplimo, the world record holder in the half-marathon, will make his debut at the full distance.
Olympic champion Tamirat Tola and 2024 London champion Alexander Mutiso will compete alongside the likes of Sabastian Sawe, who ran last year’s Valencia Marathon with a fastest-ever time for a debutant in history, of 2:02:05. But Kenenisa Bekele has withdrawn due to injury, but there are still six men to have gone under the 2:04:00 mark.
The big draw for many British fans this year will be triathlete Alex Yee, who won Olympic and world gold last year, making his debut in the marathon discipline. Emile Cairess and Mark Scott have pulled out due to injury, but there are high hopes for Philip Sesemann and Mahamed Mahamed.
London Marathon: Elite women's field
Olympic champion Sifan Hassan and Tigst Assefa, the second-fastest woman and previous world record holder, headline the field are a set for a thrilling battle. Hassan won the London Marathon on her debut in 2023, despite memorably stopping mid-race to stretch. Unfortunately, world record holder Ruth Chepngetich and the reigning champion Peres Jepchirchir had to withdraw two weeks before the race.
The British contingent will feature Eilish McColgan, a European medallist across 3,000m, 5,000m, and 10,000m, making her debut at the race 29 years after her mother, Liz, won it. Philly Bowden, Louise Small and Holly Archer also line up on the elite line, looking to qualify for the World Championships in Tokyo later this year.
London Marathon: Elite women's wheelchair field
Another Swiss great, Catherine Debrunner, is back to defend her London title in the women’s wheelchair race, with hopes of completing another Swiss double with Marcel Hug. Debrunner also won the Paralympics marathon last summer - one of five gold medals she won in Paris, while she holds the world record too.
The USA’s Susannah Scaroni won in Boston on Monday, while Britain’s Eden Rainbow-Cooper was a Boston champion last year. The Paralympic 100m champion and Scottish sprint queen Sammi Kinghorn will be making her London Marathon debut.
London Marathon: Elite men's wheelchair field
Defending champion, Olympic champion and world record holder Marcel Hug, also known as the ‘Silver Bullet’, is back this year and is the favourite to defend his title for the fifth year in a row. The Swiss great won in Boston on Monday, where the USA’s Daniel Romanchuk was in second. Eight-time London winner David Weir is also back at 45. He retired from the Paralympics after finishing fifth in Paris last summer but is back competing in London - where he finished third last year.
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