Capital Recap
Masters and Guinness World Records, plus some impressive celebrities in our London Marathon review
The famous blue line has been removed after the 42nd TCS London Marathon and the points totted up for the Abott World Marathon Majors Championships – current men's leader Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) and females Gotytom Gebreslase (Ethiopia) – so we thought we would review some of the more off-beat aspects of the world's greatest 26.2-mile foot race.
Both 2022 London champions finished with unprecedented speed, perhaps heralding a new approach to racing marathons. Amos Kipruto (2:04:39) won his first Abott World Marathon Majors race after passing halfway in 1:02:14. After losing pace as the race became a tactical battle he ran his fastest 5K split of 14:32 between 35K and 40K to break clear for victory.
Meanwhile, Yalemzerf Yehualaw (2:17:26) ran an almost perfectly even split off her half marathon time (1:08:46) before blasting out her fastest 5K in 15:51 at the same late stage – despite hitting the deck with 10K remaining! This incredible section included a 23rd mile covered in 4:43, believed to be the fastest-ever women's mile at this stage of a marathon.
There were no outright world records this year but two frankly astonishing world masters records were set, headed by the fifth-placed Kenenisa Bekele's M40 best of 2:05:53. Krishna Stanton (Blackheath and Bromley Harriers, 2:48:06) ran a W55 world record.
The winner of the first-ever women's Olympic Marathon in Los Angeles in 1984, Joan Benoit Samuelson (3:20:20) won the W65-69 category and was only 7:24 outside the W65 world record, despite recently recovering from knee surgery.
Of course, there were the usual Guinness World Record attempts – 34 in total, of which 18 were successful. David Jones (2:47:15) had an extra half hour in bed by running the fastest marathon in his pyjamas, raising funds for ABS Soldiers Charity. David Henson (2:54:57) had his hands tied in handcuffs but also went under three hours for Southampton Hospitals Charity.
The fastest female Guinness World Record breaker was Sarah Dudgeon (3:11:52) who ran as a witch complete with a broomstick, while Kellie Clark (4:24:06) was suitably attired as a Marathon bar (formerly the name for Snickers) for the fastest female dressed as a piece of confectionery!
Tristan Clark, Freddie Flanagan, Freddie Wright, John Lavelle, George Peirson, and Hugh Williams showed great teamwork and coordination to take the fastest in a six-person costume record, running in a converted vegetable box in 4:25:12 (pictured above).
One absolute star of the event was Matt Brooks (3:44:00) who ran as – a star! He said: "I'm running as a star. Actually, I am a star, because I got a world record! I'm one of the happiest people in the world."
Of the stars of media and sport, McFly drummer Harry Judd ran 3:14:37 and BBC newsreader Sophie Raworth managed a calf strain from Tower Bridge to achieve 3:52:36 in her tenth marathon since her first run 12 years ago.
Image courtesy TCS London Marathon