The history of the London Marathon

On Sunday 2 October the London Marathon will take place on the streets of the capital of England. It marks the 42nd time the race has been run, with the first taking place in 1981.

The race has become one of the most popular in the world, with the largely flat course attracting some of the best athletes on the planet. It’s also one of the fastest marathon majors, with seven world records set over the 42.195km course.

But did you know this wasn’t the first top marathon to be held on the streets of London? Or that an Olympic gold medallist was the brainchild behind the race? Find out all this and more below.

The early days

The London Marathon was not the first large-scale marathon to be run around the streets of London. Between 1909 and 1996, the Polytechnic Marathon held that distinction and was the first-ever to regularly hold a race at the now-standard marathon distance of 42.195 kilometres.

But in November 1979, a former Olympic champion ran the New York Marathon and was inspired to put on a similar show in the capital of England.

Chris Brasher competed in two Olympic Games, winning 3,000m steeplechase gold at Melbourne 1956. After retiring from sport, he began a successful career as a journalist, working for the BBC and The Observer newspaper among other notable outlets.

In 1979, the former athlete - who still enjoyed running - travelled to the USA to run the New York Marathon. Upon his return to the UK, he wrote about his experiences in The Observer, stating: “To believe this story you must believe that the human race be one joyous family, working together, laughing together, achieving the impossible.”

Joining forces with fellow Olympic medallist John Disley, Brasher organised the first London Marathon in 1981, where over 7,000 runners stood on the start line to fulfil Brasher's aim of providing ‘some happiness and sense of achievement in a troubled world.’

It was the beginning of what would become one of the greatest sporting events in the world.

Women’s records tumble throughout the ‘80s

The first London Marathon in 1981 saw joint winners in the men's race as Dick Beardsley of the USA and Inge Simonsen of Norway crossed the finish line holding hands in a time of 2:11:48. Britain's Joyce Smith was the winner of the women's race, coming home in 2:29:57.

However, it took only two years for records to begin to fall in London.

In total, seven world records have fallen at the London Marathon, with six of those broken by female athletes.

The first of those world records was set in 1983 when the Norwegian athlete Grete Waitz-Andersen stormed to victory in a time of 2:25:29. Waitz-Andersen would go on to win silver the next year at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics, the first occasion a women’s marathon race was on the Olympic programme, and register another victory in the London Marathon in 1986.

The world didn’t have to wait long for a second world record to be set, with another Norwegian, Ingrid Kristiansen lowered the time to 2:21:06. She also became the only woman ever to win the race four times, with her final victory coming in 1988.

In all, one of the two Norwegian athletes won every London Marathon between 1983 and 1988.

Repeat winners the highlight of the ‘90s

During the 1990s, the Mexican athlete Dionicio Ceron won the men’s race a remarkable three times in a row, standing unbeaten between 1994 and 1996. But he wasn’t the only athlete aiming to make the course their own in that decade.

Antonio Pinto of Portugal won in 1992, following it up with victories in 1997 and 2000.

In the women’s race, German athlete Katrin Dörre-Heinig won three consecutive races from 1992 to 1994, before the first female Kenyan winner of the race, Joyce Chepchumba, stormed to victory in 1997 and 1999.

The 2000s: World records fall in both the men’s and women’s races

In 2002, the only-ever men’s marathon world record to be set in London was produced by the USA’s Khalid Khannouchi with a time of 2:05:38. It was - and remains - only the second victory by an American male in the history of the race, with the first coming in the inaugural London Marathon in 1981.

A year after Khannouchi’s world record and fresh off her own 2002 victory, British runner Paula Radcliffe produced a stunning performance to win the women’s race in 2:15:25, a new world marathon mixed record that was excluded from being an outright world record due to the fact she was paced by male athletes.

However, in 2005 the outright women’s world record would fall into Radcliffe’s hands as she blazed to victory in 2:17:42.

Legends shine in recent years

Between 2003 and present day, the only winners of the London Marathon men’s race have come from Ethiopia or Kenya. The year 2010 also marked the beginning of a period of complete dominance by athletes from the two nations in the women’s race that has continued to today.

Reigning world record holder Eliud Kipchoge produced four victories in London, with wins in 2015, 2016 and 2018 followed by a course record in 2019 of 2:02:37 that is still intact.

The 2010s also saw the final world record set in the women’s race, with Mary Jepkosgei Keitany’s 2:17.01 set in her third London Marathon victory in 2017.

More recently, Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei has shown her immense talent around the streets of London, with the reigning mixed sex world record holder registering consecutive victories in 2019 and 2020.

The reigning champion in the men’s race is Ethiopia’s Sisay Lemma, while the 2021 women’s champion was Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei.