Team GB athletes you didn't know have run the London Marathon

Athletics 26 Apr 25

Sir Steve Redgrave, Helen Glover and Adrian Moorhouse are just a few of Team GB's icons to have ran the London Marathon.

This year, an all-star cast of Olympic medallists are taking on the legendary 26.2-mile journey from Greenwich to The Mall, with Alex Yee, Becky James, Jason Kenny, Noah Williams, Chris Mears, Ros Canter and Michael Jamieson primed to hit the ground running.

Here's a rundown of some of their fellow Team GB icons past and present who have laced up their shoes for the world-renowned event.

Adrian Moorhouse - 2004

Sixteen years after banishing the ghosts of LA 1984 with an emotional 100m breaststroke gold in Seoul 1988, Adrian Moorhouse traded his swimming trunks for running shorts to run the London Marathon.

The Bradford native is a patron of SPARKS (Sport Aiding Medical Research for Kids) and was running to raise money for the charity, which works to fund breakthrough research to improve the lives of babies and children.

After spending half a year training for a target time of four hours, Moorhouse crossed the finish line in a rain-soaked London at a time of 3.55:00.

Sir Steve Redgrave - 2006

A year after winning a remarkable fifth gold in as many Olympic Games at Sydney 2000, Redgrave hit the streets of the capital for the first of his three London Marathons.

Running alongside wife Ann and to raise money for the charitable trust which bears his name, Redgrave clocked in at 4:55:35 in his first attempt at the iconic event.

His second bite at the apple came in 2005 and while breaking the 4:30 barrier was cause enough for celebration, it was Redgrave's run in 2006 that would capture the hearts of the country.

The then-44-year-old did what he has always done and wrote his name in the history books by raising over £1.8 million for charity - a Guinness World Record.

Chris Boardman - 2009

Olympic gold medalist Boardman swapped the velodrome for the tarmac in 2009.

Hoylake's Boardman ran the event for the National Autistic Society, hoping to raise awareness of then-half-a-million people with autism in the UK.

The 1992 Barcelona gold medallist crossed the finish line in a typically speedy 3:19:27.

Helen Glover and Heather Stanning - 2017

Double Olympic champions Helen Glover and Heather Stanning momentarily put down their oars and completed the marathon in 2017.

Glover clocked 3:05:25, 27 minutes faster than Stanning.

"That was probably the best win of my life," joked Glover, as Stanning stood alongside her.

"That was amazing fun but it really, really hurt. The crowd support was remarkable and to have an experience like that for our very first marathon is pretty special.

"However, I definitely prefer it when we do things together, even though we had all that support out there you are totally on your own when you are running and only you can motivate yourself.

"Two things got me in front of the TV when I was a kid and that was the Olympics and the London Marathon and this has been such a special experience, especially sharing it with Heather."

Stanning said: "I need to choose another sport to take her on at to give myself a chance but we've both really enjoyed the different challenge,"

"We competed in front of a home crowd at London 2012 but this was amazing too, it was exactly what I wished for. The crowd were shouting my name and spurring me on, they really dug deep for me and they got me through that last ten miles."

James Cracknell - 2017

With two Olympic rowing golds and six World Championship crowns, there's no doubting James Cracknell is at his best when he is on the water.

But the Olympic legend has proven more than capable on land, running the London Marathon eight times.

His finest hour in the capital was in 2017 when he ran a personal best of 2:43:12 - one of the fastest non-professional marathon times.

On finishing the race, an exhausted Cracknell told the BBC: "I was going for under 2:50 and was running with this guy from Medway Harriers – then he told me he was going for 2:45, so I thought I might have gone off a bit too hard.

"For 10 years all I did was full-time endurance training, but if you blow up on a boat, at least you're sitting down! If you blow up running, you're on your own. It’s a tough, tough sport."

Eve Muirhead and Perri Shakes-Drayton - 2023

In 2023, curling legend Eve Muirhead marked her birthday by running the breadth of London for charity when she took part in the 2023 marathon.

Taking to the streets of the capital two days after turning 33, Muirhead was running to raise money for the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation - which funds pioneering research into motor neurone disease.

The Scot raised nearly £6,000 for the charity and completed the marathon in a time of 3:25:13.

On the same day, Perri Shakes-Drayton ran the event in 4:46:49 to raise cash for Tommy's - a charity that funds medical research into the causes of and treatments for premature birth, stillbirth and miscarriage.

Sportsbeat 2025

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