With eight days to go until the 2026 TCS London Marathon sets off from Blackheath on Sunday 26 April, the women's elite field remains one of the most competitive ever assembled, even after the back-to-back withdrawals of Peres Jepchirchir and Sifan Hassan's treadmill-based build-up scares forced organisers to update the start list earlier this month. Defending champion Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia, Olympic champion Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, two-time New York champion Hellen Obiri of Kenya and Valencia winner Joyciline Jepkosgei head a group that still boasts four of the six fastest women ever to race a marathon.
The race starts from the elite women's gun at 9:05am on Sunday, fifty minutes before the mass waves. Assefa, the reigning women's-only world record holder with her 2:15:50 from Berlin in 2023 and the winner of last year's race, has been the planted favourite since the field was announced in January. Hassan, who returns to London after winning her debut marathon here in 2023 and the Olympic title in 2024, has had her preparation disrupted by an Achilles issue managed largely on a treadmill through February and March, but confirmed her participation earlier this week. Obiri makes her London debut after winning both Boston and New York twice on her terms, and is the acknowledged wild card across a flatter, faster course than she has previously favoured.
The story this spring has been one of both depth and attrition. World champion Peres Jepchirchir withdrew in March citing a stress fracture, removing the woman many had expected to lead a late move on The Mall. Sharon Lokedi's decision to focus on Boston, where she defends her title on Monday, further opened the door at the top of the women's race. Against those subtractions, Jepkosgei's 2:14:00 from Valencia last autumn and Ethiopian Workenesh Edesa's return to form have lifted a field that was already historically deep. Organisers continue to suggest that the women's-only world record and Paula Radcliffe's 2:15:25 course record are both realistic targets if conditions co-operate.
On the men's side, defending champion Sabastian Sawe headlines a line-up that includes Jacob Kiplimo, Joshua Cheptegei, Tamirat Tola and Yomif Kejelcha. The top three entrants all have personal bests inside 2:03, and Sawe suggested on the day his return was confirmed that "whoever wins will likely have to break the course record" — the 2:01:25 set by the late Kelvin Kiptum in 2023. Britain's home challenge was dented this weekend when Emile Cairess withdrew with a calf injury, leaving Mahamed Mahamed and Phil Sesemann as the leading domestic contenders, though five of the ten fastest British women in history will still race Sunday with Eilish McColgan and Jess Warner-Judd carrying the principal expectations.
Off the course, the marathon arrives with its traditional week-long build. The expo opens at ExCeL on Wednesday, the race briefings for the charity waves begin Thursday, and the traditional elite press conference is scheduled for Friday lunchtime at the Tower Hotel. Participation across the mass field again tops 50,000, drawn from the record-breaking 1.1 million ballot applications received last year, and the organisers are projecting another strong crowd turnout on the Thames-side stretch from Tower Bridge through the Isle of Dogs to the Embankment. Monday's Boston Marathon remains the sport's immediate focus, but from Tuesday onwards the conversation will move quickly to the spring's second Major.