We've had the news. Now for the muse! Reporter Alan Newman looks behind the headlines to bring you the real stories from the 45th TCS London Marathon... 

The blue line was washed away, and recyclable bottles and compostable cups were swept up in record time after 56,640 finishers made London the world's largest marathon on Sunday, 27 April 2025. We reported on the elite race in runABC here. It has now been confirmed that the first GB athletes secured the UK Athletics Marathon Championships. Congratulations to Mahamed Mahamed (Southampton AC, 2:08:52) and Eilish McColgan (Dundee Hawkhill Harriers, 2:24:25).

Among the many amazing age group performances, Eliud Kipchoge's 2:05:25 and Vivian Cheruiyot's 2:22:32 were outstanding. M40 athlete Kipchoge was sixth, and W40 Cheruiyot was fifth. Imagine being a good over-40 marathon runner with those two in the field!

The leading GB masters were M40 John Gilbert (Kent AC, 2:16:06) and W45 Helen Gaunt (Tonbridge AC, 2:36:25) – the third fastest British over-45 time ever. The oldest finishers were Mohan Kudchadker - 84 (8:13:38) and Mary Jo Brinkman - 83 (7:23:16), who travelled from the USA to compete. The leading over-80 Brits were Stuart Mann (Herts Phoenix AC, 4:28:07) and Gina Little (100 Marathon Club, 5:25:27). All in a day's work for these octogenarians!

In our event preview, we highlighted the tremendous effort of stoma campaigner, Adele Roberts, who was hoping to set a Guinness World Record (GWR) for the fastest aggregate time to complete all six Abbott World Marathon Majors with a stoma (female) within a cumulative target time of 24 hours. With her London finish in 3:36:15, Adele's total was 20:29:58 to smash her 24-hour target by two and a half hours – an average marathon time of 3:25!

In the 70th anniversary of Guinness World Records, more than 40 of the 87 attempts in London were successful. One of the quickest was achieved by Zoe Cowell-Jones (3:19:18), with the fastest marathon dressed as a mascot (female). Another notable performance was achieved by Exmouth Harriers' Alice, Sam & James Kelly (pictured above): the fastest marathon by three siblings (mixed) in 8:31:07. All the more remarkable when we heard that James had run the Boston Marathon in 2:46:37 six days earlier!

With temperatures soaring to 22C, spare a thought for 'Rhino Boy' Chris Green, who set a GWR record for the most marathons (113) run in the same three-dimensional costume (male). And while Nike, adidas, and ASICS continued their dominance, and the new women's only world record holder Tigst Assefa wore adidas Adizero Adios Pro 2, the footwear of choice for Tommy Trees was the bright pink pair of Crocs he sported for a GWR for the fastest marathon run in Crocs (2:48:48)!

Charity is a huge part of the London Marathon, and the 2025 race will set a new world record for the biggest annual one-day fundraising event. More than £75 million has already been raised for charities from this year’s edition. This means the total raised through the 2025 event has already beaten the world record of £73.5 million, set at the 2024 TCS London Marathon.

We end this brief review with a truly heart-warming TikTok video of Liam Hussell (4:12:48) who was making his way home on the London Underground, proudly displaying his finisher's medal, when the public spontaneously applaud, cheer, and high-five the beaming father-of-two – London at its best!

See you all again next year...

London results and reports are at the runABC race listing here.

Photo courtesy of Des White, Exmouth Harriers