Ask any UK running fan to rank the world’s biggest marathons and the chances are they will put London at the top of that list. Ask lovers of the sport from elsewhere in the world, and you will get a different answer. As far as elite athletes are concerned, and even for many well below that level, there are six, or possibly seven, that stand out above the others.
Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York have long been the six biggest marathons in the world in terms of prestige. These six races formed the World Marathon Majors, with Sydney joining them in 2025. Sydney doesn’t yet quite have the same cachet as the other races, but even so, these seven marathons are the annual pinnacle of the sport.
We have already witnessed two of 2026’s big seven, with Tokyo taking place on the 1st of March. Ethiopian Tadese Takele won the men’s race, with Kenyan star Brigid Kosgei winning the women’s. Our focus in this article is the men’s competition, though, and John Korir, of Kenya, won the most recent major in Boston.
Korir defended the crown he won 12 months earlier, smashing the course record with his time of 2:01:52 on the 20th of April. The men who came second and third also bettered the previous Boston record in what was a really fast race, and that has got fans very excited about what the rest of the marathon year has in store.
BACK‑TO‑BACK BOSTON KING 👑
🇰🇪’s John Korir storms to victory at the Boston Marathon, sealing consecutive wins and his 3rd Abbott World Marathon Majors 🏆
He clocks an impressive 2:01:52 to move up to 5️⃣th on the all-time list 🔥 pic.twitter.com/V2G22j5KZi
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) April 20, 2026
Next Stop: London
The third Abbot Marathon Major of the year is London, with that race scheduled to take place on Sunday, the 26th of April. London is a quick marathon and with the way things have been going in distance running in recent times, a new world record is not out of the question. It is seven years since the legendary Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, probably the greatest of all time, ran under two hours in a sponsored challenge, using favourable conditions that did not meet IAAF requirements to be classed as a world record.
The current fastest marathon officially is the 2:00:35 run by another Kenyan, the brilliant Kelvin Kiptum, who tragically died much too young. He would almost certainly have broken the two-hour mark under legal conditions but died in a car crash in 2024. Kiptum also holds the course record at London with a time of 2:01:25, but there is a strong chance that we might see a new course record, a new world record and the first genuine sub-two-hour marathon on Sunday.
Kiptum’s time at London remains one of the fastest marathons ever run, while the women’s world record has frequently been set on the course. That includes a spell of 12 years when Paula Radcliffe’s mark of just under 2:18 stood until it was broken… at London.
The point is, London is a fast course, and while perhaps not the quickest in the world, with Valencia generally accepted as holding that title (among record-eligible courses), it is close enough that the chances of a new world record being created are at least reasonable.
With just a few days to go until the big race – and with almost 60,000 runners expected at the start line, this is certainly that – the weather forecast looks great. There is predicted to be very little wind, and highs of 20 °C. That might be a bit much for the average recreational runner, but the elites will finish before it gets quite that hot, and the anticipated 16 °C is just about perfect for the East Africans who are likely to be leading the charge.
Who to Watch?
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There are eight men expected to line up who have current PBs of faster than two hours and five minutes. It would be unexpected for most of them to challenge the world record, but for the five or six who have run around 2:04 or better, anything is possible. Recent years have seen yet more advances in footwear, nutrition, fuelling and training techniques, and with perfect conditions and a high-class field, anyone who loves distance running is excited about London.
Although we have spoken of five or six possible WR candidates, more realistically, most attention is focused on Sabastian Sawe (who is from Kenya), Jacob Kiplimo (Uganda) and to a lesser degree, Deresa Geleta (Ethiopia). Those three have PBs of 2:02:05, 2:02:23 and 2:02:38, respectively, and all will be dreaming of the immense recognition (not to mention financial reward) that would come from being the first man to dip under two hours. They would become the Roger Bannister of marathon running, and their name would be remembered forever.
Sawe is the defending champion and would love to do what his compatriot Kipchoge did twice and double up. He clearly has the ability, and many have tipped him as the man most likely to break two hours. However, others have been more impressed by the astonishing half-marathon feats of Kiplimo. In March, he set a new world record time of 57:20, having previously set an unofficial mark of 56:42.
He then made his marathon debut at London last year, coming second in 2:03:37 to set a new national record. Later in the year, he won his first marathon, in Chicago, improving his time by over a minute. If he can take another giant leap forward, history awaits, but whatever happens, London promises to be quite a race.