The records keep coming for London Marathon as highest number of finishers confirmed

Hugh Brasher, the Event Director of the TCS London Marathon, has hailed last weekend as “the greatest in its history”.

Sabastian Sawe made global headlines when he became the first person to run 26.2 miles in under two hours in a competitive race.

The 31-year-old Kenyan clocked 1:59:30 to retain the men’s marathon crown in a barrier-breaking contest that saw two athletes dip below the historic sub two-hour mark and three cross the finish line inside the previous world record.

It was a history-making day in the women’s race too, as Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa bettered the women-only world record she had set 12 months previously, retaining her title in 2:15:41, as three athletes crossed the line under 2:16 for the first time in a women’s marathon.

And it’s has now been confirmed that London has reclaimed the record for the largest number of finishers in a marathon with a total of 59,830 beating the 59,226 set by the TCS New York City marathon in November 2025.

‘Truly historic’

“It’s been incredible, truly historic,” said Brasher. “We’ve got some incredible sports performances, incredible people raising money for charity, and we have the highest number of participants with a disability and the most diversity we’ve ever had.

“We’ve had elite performances that have never been done before, that people said couldn’t be done,” he added. “It’s a day almost indescribable in its joy and in its sense of achievement. I honestly couldn’t be happier.

“To then break the record of the largest number of finishers in the history of marathons underlines the inspirational nature of the TCS London Marathon – our mission as a company is to inspire activity.”

Fundraising up 22%

And there could be plenty more records to come.

The London Marathon is the world’s largest annual one-day fundraising event and already this year £38,072,978 has been raised on Enthuse, the official fundraising platform.

This is a record figure raised by Marathon Day on the platform, and a 22% increase on the figure on the same platform 12 months ago.

The full charity total of the 2026 TCS London Marathon will be announced in the coming months when all the fundraising has been collated.