London Marathon 2023: Preview, schedule, how to watch top runners in elite races and mass participation run
One of the world's largest marathons is scheduled for Sunday 23 April. The men's elite field will include four of the fastest men in history, with Kenenisa Bekele leading the way. You can catch all the action live on Olympic Channel.
Athletics
The London Marathon lives up to its billing as the 'Super Bowl of Marathons,' thanks in part to the presence of two of the greatest distance runners in history.
Between them, Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele and Mo Farah have won a combined seven Olympic gold medals and 11 world titles, affirming the marathon's 'super' status.
Bekele, a triple Olympic gold medallist with a personal best of 2:01:41, is the second-fastest man in history behind world record holder Eliud Kipchoge.
Farah, who has won four Olympic distance titles, will go head-to-head with Bekele at the London Marathon.
But it’s not just the presence of the two seasoned distance runners that makes the 2023 edition a must-watch.
There is also Kelvin Kiptum, the Kenyan who ran the fastest marathon debut of 2:01:53 at the 2022 Valencia Marathon.
This will be the first time in history that two men who have gone under two hours two minutes will race together.
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2022 London marathon: the top runners to watch, the fastest athletes on the start lists, the race schedule, and how to follow the races live on Olympic Channel and other broadcasters.
London Marathon 2023: Kenenisa Bekele leads a star-studded men’s field
Bekele, the only man along with Farah to win the 5,000m and 10,000m double at the Olympic Games, is returning to a course he knows all too well.
He was the favourite to win last year’s race, but ended up finishing fifth, over a minute behind the winner, Kenya’s Alex Kipruto.
However, his time of 2:05:53 was the fastest-ever marathon by a runner aged 40 or older.
Bekele, who finished third in 2016 and second in 2017, has been dealing with injuries since he set his personal best of 2:01:41 at the Berlin Marathon in 2019.
The Ethiopian legend dropped out of the 2020 London race and has not raced since October, when he revealed that his training prior to the marathon was disrupted by hip and joint injuries.
The second-fastest man in the field is Kelvin Kiptum, one of the favourites for the title on Sunday. He won the Valencia Marathon four months ago in 2:01:53, a time that pushed him to third on the all-time list.
He defeated an experienced field that included reigning world champion Tamirat Tola from Ethiopia - who is also returning to the London course - and Tanzania’s Gabriel Geay, who finished second in Monday’s Boston race, which was won by Evans Chebet.
Kiptum’s speedy finish even caught the attention of the marathon world record holder, who placed sixth in the 2023 Boston run. Kipchoge is still the only man to have completed a marathon twice in under two hours two minutes.
“I’m the happiest person that there’s other people who can run 2:01. I am not worried at all…today else someone else can break a world record, tomorrow I can break it,” Kipchoge told Citius Mag. “I have broken the world record back-to-back, so it’s good for him to run 2:01 back-to-back.”
Previous course experience counts in a marathon. That’s what the London defending champion Amos Kipruto hopes will help him after “an incredible experience” in the British capital last year. He closed in for second when fellow countryman Kipchoge broke the course record in Tokyo in 2022 and took bronze at the worlds in Eugene behind Tola.
The other elites who will line up at the start line at Greenwich Park are double Olympian Geoffrey Kamworor, Kipchoge’s training mate who has won the New York City Marathon twice, 2022 London Marathon runner-up Leul Gebresilase from Ethiopia, and another seasoned marathoner Vincent Kipchumba, who finished second in both the 2020 and 2021 edition.
The long-awaited return of British great Sir Mo Farah highlights the local entries.
The three-time London marathon finisher hasn’t been on the marathon podium since 2018 when he placed third in his home capital before taking victory in Chicago in the autumn. The 39-year-old withdrew from last year's race and could be racing for the last time in London.
London Marathon 2023: Greatest-ever women’s elite field
The London marathon will be teeming with Olympic stars. After her Tokyo Olympics glory, Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir, will make her debut in London alongside the current Olympic 10,000m and 5,000m champion Sifan Hassan, who is lining up on the marathon course for the first time, and the marathon world record holder Brigid Kosgei, who took silver at the last Games.
Jepchirchir, the holder of three half world half-marathon records, is also the 2021 New York and 2022 Boston marathon champion. The Kenyan has won all her last five races.
Another eye-catching debutant is British sensation Eilish McColgan, who has been in fantastic shape since storming to the 10,000m Commonwealth Games title last year in Birmingham.
The best of Ethiopia’s female distance runners will also be on parade. There is the Rio 10,000m Rio 2016 gold medallist Almaz Ayana, last year’s winner Yalemzerf Yehualaw, the current world 10km record holder, Genzebe Dibaba, the 1,500m world record holder, and the 2022 Berlin Marathon champion Tigst Assefa.
2023 London Marathon schedule (all times in BST)
Races will start in staggered times from Greenwich in the morning on Sunday 23 April . Currently the UK time zone is British Summer Time, which is 1 hour ahead of the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The start times for the different races are:
- 9:15 - Elite wheelchair men’s and women’s races
- 09:25 - Elite women’s race
- 10:00 - Elite men’s race and mass start
The first people across the finish line will be the elite wheelchair winners, who are due to pass Buckingham Palace at around 10:30am on Sunday.
The winners in the elite women's category are due to finish the course after 12:40 am BST, with the fastest men expected to complete the course shortly after 12:03 am.
How to watch the 2023 London Marathon
The race will be televised around the world via the marathon's official broadcast TV and livestreaming partners.
Olympic Channel will air the London Marathon in selected territories including China, Japan, MENA (Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, UAE and Yemen) and New Zealand live via Olympics.com here.
In the host nation the event will be live on the BBC One TV channel, and online BBC iPlayer, with Eurosport and Discover also showing the race in parts of Pan Europe and Asia. FloTrack will broadcast the race in North America and Australia.
Full details of international broadcast and livestream coverage is here on the official London Marathon 2023 website.
When is the 2024 London Marathon?
The 2024 race will be held on 21 April.
The qualifying period for the 2024 London Marathon began on 3 October and will end on 30 September 2023.