London Marathon: one month
The 2026 London Marathon is now one month out and human‑interest prep stories are piling up — runners sharing fundraising and family motivations as the city ramps up for race day. Local pieces highlight charity runs and countdown narratives feeding public enthusiasm ahead of the April event (leaderlive.co.uk) (london-now.co.uk).
The 2026 TCS London Marathon is scheduled for Sunday 26 April 2026. (londonmarathonevents.co.uk(londonmarathonevents.co.uk)) Organisers say a world‑record 1,133,813 people applied in the public ballot for the 2026 race; UK applicants numbered 869,803 and international applicants 264,011, with UK gender breakdowns reported as 433,775 men, 430,983 women and 5,044 non‑binary. (londonmarathonevents.co.uk(londonmarathonevents.co.uk)) The latest confirmed fundraising total for the most recent edition was a world‑record £87.3 million raised for charity, lifting the cumulative sum raised by the event since 1981 to about £1.4 billion. (fundraising.co.uk(fundraising.co.uk)) Marie Curie is the official 2026 Charity of the Year and is asking charity‑place runners to meet a minimum fundraising target of £2,500, while ballot‑place runners who join the charity have no mandatory target but receive support and a free running top. (mariecurie.org.uk(mariecurie.org.uk)) Marathon Week logistics include the Event Expo and Event Pack collection at ExCeL London from Wednesday 22 April to Saturday 25 April 2026, and organisers have announced a new TCSLM & Friday Night Lights (FNL) 5K to kick off the week’s activity. (londonmarathonevents.co.uk(londonmarathonevents.co.uk)) Good‑for‑Age entry rules for 2026 were tightened: qualifying times are faster across age groups (example: men 18–39 must run under 2:52, women 18–39 under 3:38) and qualifying results must fall within the window 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025. (londonmarathonevents.co.uk(londonmarathonevents.co.uk))
