2019 London Marathon

The London Marathon is run over a largely flat course around the River Thames, and spans 26 miles and 385 yards (42.195 kilometres). The route has markers at one mile and five kilometre intervals.[1]

The course begins at three separate points: the 'red start' in southern Greenwich Park on Charlton Way, the 'green start' in St John's Park, and the 'blue start' on Shooter's Hill Road. From these points around Blackheath at 35 m (115 ft) above sea level, south of the River Thames, the route heads east through Charlton. The three courses converge after 4.5 km (2.8 miles) in Woolwich, close to the Royal Artillery Barracks.[2][3]

As the runners reach the 10 km mark (6.2-mile), they pass by the Old Royal Naval College and head towards Cutty Sark drydocked in Greenwich. Heading next into Deptford and Surrey Quays in the Docklands, and out towards Bermondsey, competitors run along Jamaica Road before reaching the half-way point as they cross Tower Bridge. Running east again along The Highway through Wapping, competitors head up towards Limehouse and into Mudchute in the Isle of Dogs via Westferry Road, before heading into Canary Wharf.[2][3]

As the route leads away from Canary Wharf into Poplar, competitors run west down Poplar High Street back towards Limehouse and on through Commercial Road. They then move back onto The Highway, onto Lower and Upper Thames Streets. Heading into the final leg of the race, competitors pass the Tower of London on Tower Hill. In the penultimate mile along The Embankment, the London Eye comes into view, before the athletes turn right onto Birdcage Walk to complete the final 352 m (385 yards), catching the sights of Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, and finishing on The Mall alongside St. James's Palace.[2][3]

The favourite for the men's race was Eliud Kipchoge, winner of the 2015, 2016, and 2018 editions.[4] Abraham Kiptum was due to race but did not compete due to a biological passport violation,[5] and was later suspended in November for an anti-doping violation.[6] A much anticipated appearance was from Briton Mo Farah despite being an underdog and the bookmaker's second favourite pick.[7] Shura Kitata, runner-up in the 2018 edition, also competed.[4]

In the women's race, defending champion Vivian Cheruiyot and three-time London Marathon winner Mary Keitany were favourites.[8] David Weir was favourite in the men's wheelchair race, having won a total of nine editions of the race.[9] 2018 winner Madison de Rozario raced along with five-time New York City Marathon winner Tatyana McFadden, and Manuela Schär in the women's wheelchair race.[9]

The wheelchair race started at 9:05 BST (UTC+1), the women's race at 9:25 BST, and the men's race at 10:10 BST.[10] A new competition, the Flying 400, was introduced in the wheelchair race. It consisted of a 400 metres (1,300 ft) sprint at the 20 kilometres (12 mi) mark, with the winner receiving $10,000 and second place receiving $5,000 for both the men and women's race.[10][11] In the other races, the winner received £42,000, with second and third winning £23,000 and £17,000, respectively.[10]

Daniel Romanchuk, winner of the men's wheelchair race.

Manuela Schär, winner of the women's wheelchair race.

In the wheelchair race, Weir fell out of the leading group following the Flying 400 sprint.[12] 20-year-old American Daniel Romanchuk managed to pull away from the lead group in the last kilometre to win in a time of 1:33:38.[13] Marcel Hug of Switzerland and Tomoki Suzuki of Japan finished second and third respecitvely, while Weir finished fifth.[13] In the women's wheelchair race, Schär dropped the other competitors about 30 minutes into the race,[14] and was able to win in a time of 1:44:09.[13] Rozario and McFadden finished over five minutes later in second and third, respecitvely.[13]

Brigid Kosgei, winner of the women's race.

The women's race contained four pacemakers, and three of them left the rest of the runners behind within the first five minutes of the race.[14] The race had got off to a slow start and they went through 4.5 miles (7.2 km) at about 2:20:00 pace.[14] They passed the 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) mark at about 2:21:00 pace, four minutes slower than the women's only world record set by Keitany at the 2017 edition.[15] The pace slowed even further, passing halfway in 1:11:38.[16] About 90 minutes into the race, Keitany began to drop from the lead group as Kenyan Brigid Kosgei and Cheruiyot began to move away from the rest.[14] At 35 kilometres (22 mi), Kosgei had put a three second gap between herself and Cheruiyot and just five minutes later had completely dropped her.[14] She managed to hold the lead and finished in a time of 2:18:20, with a second-half split time of 1:06:42, the fastest in women's marathon history.[16] Cheruiyot finished second in 2:20:14, 2018 Dubai Marathon winner Roza Dereje finished third in 2:20:51, whilst Keitany finished fifth.[16]

Eliud Kipchoge, winner of the men's race.

British tennis player Andy Murray started the men's race.[17] A group of nine formed and they ran at a controlled pace, passing 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) in 29:01 and halfway in 1:01:37.[18] Once the pacemakers had dropped out, Kipchoge took lead of the group which included Shura, Mule Wasihun, Mosinet Geremew, Farah, Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich, and Tamirat Tola.[14][18] Kipchoge began to increase the pace, leaving only himself, Mosinet, Mule, and Shura in the lead group by the 30 kilometres (19 mi) point. From mile 20 to 24, they ran a pace of about 4:40 per mile, enough to drop Shura and Mule.[18] However, Kipchoge soon left Mosinet behind after nearly two hours of racing and waved to the crowd as he crossed the finish line in 2:02:37.[14] Mosinet finished second in 2:02:55, Mule finished third in 2:03:16, Shura finished fourth in 2:05:01, and Farah finished fifth in 2:05:39. Kipchoge broke the previous London Marathon record by 28 seconds which he had set in 2016, and also ran the second quickest marathon in history behind his 2018 Berlin Marathon performance.[19][20]

Results

• London Marathon 2019 Leaderboard. London Marathon. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
• London Marathon Women — Slow Kosgei Start, Then…!. Track and Field News (2019-05-02). Retrieved 2020-05-02.
• London Marathon Men — Nobody Faster Than Kipchoge. Track and Field News (2019-05-02). Retrieved 2020-05-02.

• Official website