Hugh Brasher, CEO of London Marathon Events which organises the iconic race in central London every year, has expressed his hope that a plethora of records are broken this weekend.
The 45th edition of the run, which takes athletes from Blackheath through Woolwich, Greenwich, across the Thames, around Canary Wharf and through the City of London to Buckingham Palace, takes place on Sunday, April 27, with a star-studded list of world-class athletes and celebrities set to take on the challenge.
The likes of comedian Romesh Ranganathan, boxing coach Shane McGuigan and a host of politicians are all set to raise money for charities, while Great British triathlete Alex Yee takes on the world’s best in the men’s elite race.
“It’s going to be an incredible day”
Brasher, speaking on the London Marathon Events official website, commented on several potential records that could be broken over the weekend.
He said: “It is going to be an incredible day, both on Saturday and Sunday, both from an international athlete point of view, a British athlete point of view, a participant point of view, and we believe there will be records set all over the place.
“We’re expecting more than 56,000 finishers at this year’s TCS London Marathon, which will be a Guinness World Record, and before that we’ve got some absolutely stunning racing.”
The four marathon champions from the Paris Olympic Games, Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia (Men), Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands (Women), Marcel Hug of Switzerland (Men’s wheelchair) and Catherine Debrunner (Women’s wheelchair) also of Switzerland, are set to compete over the 26.2-miles.
“All four Olympic champions from Paris 2024 will be racing,” added Brasher. “How many people can remember the argy-bargy between Tigst Assefa and Sifan Hassan as they finished the Olympic marathon – and whether that will be happening as they come round Birdcage Walk, onto Spur Road and then onto The Mall, I have no idea, but I’m sure it’s going be a quite incredible day.
“They may go for Peres Jepchirchir’s women’s-only world record, which sits at just over two hours and 16 minutes.”
Excitement for Kiplimo debut
Brasher picked out half marathon world record holder Jacob Kiplimo, who is making is debut at the London race, as a standout candidate on the men’s side along with defending champion Alexander Mutiso Munyao, Sabastian Sawe and Eliud Kipchoge.
“He ran 56:42, which was a world record by 48 seconds – the biggest-ever world record – and you just never know what he’s going to do,” he said of Kiplimo, hypothesising that the Ugandan could be eyeing another record run.
“It’s going to be the most fascinating debut ever. I think it’s feasible that he could take Kelvin Kiptum’s record as the fastest debutant. What is he going to do on the day? I have no idea whether he’s going to go through halfway in 61 minutes or 62 minutes, but when you compare his half marathon time to Eliud’s it’s so much quicker.
“I’m just delighted that he’s chosen to make his debut here. I think it’s going to be fascinating. Do I think he could be the athlete that runs under two hours? Yes, but let’s see what happens on Sunday.”
