London Marathon 59,000 runners

More than 59,000 runners are expected to start the 2026 TCS London Marathon on Sunday, April 26, putting London on course for its biggest edition yet. (londonmarathonevents.co.uk) London Marathon Events said the race drew a world-record 1.13 million ballot applications. The organizer also said the 2026 field would make this the most inclusive London Marathon yet, with more than 1,900 participants with a disability registered. (londonmarathonevents.co.uk) Last year’s race set a world record for marathon finishers, with 56,640 people completing the 26.2-mile course. Olympics.com said this year’s event is the 46th London Marathon and the third stop in the 2026 World Marathon Majors series. (olympics.com) The elite fields bring back both defending champions. Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe returns after winning the 2025 men’s race in 2:02:27, and Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa comes back after running 2:15:50 in 2025, a women-only world record. (olympics.com) The celebrity field is unusually deep even by London standards. London Marathon Events lists Cynthia Erivo, Dame Laura Kenny, Sebastian Vettel, Tony Adams, Aaron Ramsey, James Norton and Sir Ben Ainslie among the starters. (londonmarathonevents.co.uk) Those entries are tied to specific charities. Erivo is running for The King’s Trust and Shameless Fund, Kenny for The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust, and Vettel for the Brain & Spine Foundation and the Grand Prix Trust, according to the event’s celebrity media guide. (londonmarathonevents.co.uk) The race remains a television event as well as a road race. The official event site says BBC One begins live elite coverage at 08:30, coverage moves to BBC Two at 14:00, and BBC iPlayer will carry live streams from Tower Bridge and the finish line. (londonmarathonevents.co.uk) London’s organizers describe the marathon as the world’s biggest annual one-day fundraising event, which helps explain why the field now mixes elite racing, charity running and mass participation on the same course. On Sunday, all of that will be visible from Greenwich to The Mall. (londonmarathonevents.co.uk)