As the announcement is made that the public ballot for the 2026 TCS London Marathon will be opened as part of a spectacular immersive digital display at the Outernet in central London on Friday 25 April 2025 – remaining open until Friday 2 May – we take a look at some of the key facts and stats surrounding the 45th edition of the world’s most popular marathon on Sunday 27 April.

TCS London Marathon 2025 has entered the Guinness World Records after a world record 840,318 people took part in the ballot for this year. London Marathon Events has high hopes of setting another world record if more than 55,646 people reach the Finish Line.

The 2025 London Marathon will host 87 official Guinness World Record attempts ranging from the ubiquitous fastest male/female dressed as a mascot/character/animal to the amazing teamwork required to attempt the fastest marathon in a 10-person costume!

One record attempt caught the eye of our reporter. Adele Roberts, 46, broadcaster and DJ from Southport, Merseyside and lives in London. This will be her ninth marathon and fourth London Marathon, with her most recent being in 2024, when she set a Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon with a stoma (female).

This year, Adele is aiming to set the Guinness World Record for the fastest aggregate time to complete all Abbott World Marathon Majors races with a stoma (female) with a target time of 24 hours. Adele is raising money for Cancer Research UK and Attitude Magazine Foundation and hopes to raise awareness of bowel cancer and living with a stoma. She also wants to show people what can be achieved post-cancer and increase the representation of ostomates.

The youngest runners will be Lucy Jones, competing on her 18th birthday, and Callum Smillie, taking part in the TCS London Marathon three days after his 18th birthday. Lucy is raising money for Macmillan Cancer Charity in memory of her mother, Clare, and her grandmother, Joan. Callum is running to raise money for Cancer Research UK in memory of his grandmother, Margaret, who passed away in October 2023 following a 14-year battle with cancer.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the age scale, more than 30 octogenarians will be running, including the oldest male, Mohan Kudchadker (84) and the oldest female, Mary Jo Brinkman (83) on Marathon Day. Both are travelling from the USA to compete.

The 'Ever Presents' continue to dwindle. After the 15th London Marathon (1995), the group was acknowledged by 'the powers that be' and awarded a special commemorative medal, sweatshirt and guaranteed acceptance for future London Marathons.

The original 42 have now been whittled down to six London Marathon stalwarts who have finished all 44 London Marathons to date: Chris Finill (Harrow AC), Michael Pearce (Ranalegh Harriers), Bill O'Connor (Queen's Park Harriers), Jeffrey Aston (Les Croupiers RC), David Walker (Chiltern Harriers) and Malcolm Speake (Road Runners AC).

Over 100 TCS London Marathon Pacers will be on the course with their easy-to-spot flags on their backs to help runners target times from three hours to seven and a half hours.

The elite start times are 09:05 (women) and 09:35 (men). The fastest athletes entered are the former women's world record holder Tigst Assefa (Ethiopia, 2:11:53) and marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya, 2:01:09). The leading British athletes to look out for are Charlotte Purdue (Aldershot, 2:22:17) and Mahamed Mahamed (Southampton, 2:07:05).

Among those making their marathon debuts in London are the British record holder for 5000m, 10000m, 5K, 10K, 10 miles and half marathon, Eilish McColgan (Dundee Hawkhill Harriers) and the Olympic and World Triathlon champion Alex Yee (Kent AC).

Live TV coverage will begin on BBC1 at 8:30am and switch to BBC2 for a final hour at 2:00pm.

London Marathon details, results and reports are at runABC race listing here.

Image courtesy TCS London Marathon