The 2026 London Marathon will see some of the best British marathon runners in action, while other Team GB greats will also plot their routes through the capital.
A trio of long-distance runners from Paris 2024 will have elite times on their mind as Mahamed Mahamed and Phil Sesemann, both of whom completed the marathon two years ago, take to the startline.
The third member of Team GB in the men’s marathon in France was Emile Cairess, who finished fourth, but he has been forced to withdraw this weekend due to injury.
Patrick Dever, who raced over 5000m in 2024, will also be running the marathon, while Alex Yee, gold medallist in the triathlon, returns to the London Marathon a year after finishing 14th overall.
Yee will have a different role this time around, however, serving as a pacemaker.
He is not the only familiar Team GB face who will be on show but not running. A pair of Olympians will be charged with starting the race.
Sir Mo Farah, the British record holder for the marathon and four-time Olympic champion, will be joined by Ellie Kildunne, a World Cup winner for the Red Roses, who represented Team GB in rugby sevens in Paris, as the official starters.
On the women’s side, Jessica Warner-Judd will make her London Marathon debut two years on from collapsing at the European Championships in Rome while competing in the 10000m final.
Having since been diagnosed with epilepsy, the Tokyo 2020 Olympian has returned to elite athletics, and will now make her debut at the London Marathon alongside her husband Rob.
Familiar Team GB faces from the past
As well as the elite runners in action, there are plenty of household names from other sports who will be testing themselves while raising money for charity.
Dame Laura Kenny, Britain’s most decorated female Olympian, is making her debut and raising money for The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust, having been unable to run last year as she was pregnant with her third child.
Kenny won her first Olympic gold medals in track cycling at London 2012, at the same time that Sir Ben Ainslie brought down the curtain on the most successful sailing career in Olympic history.
Ainslie is running for the 1851 Trust and making his marathon debut, although he has admitted he is not a runner.
The switch from track cycling to running appears to be a popular one this year, with Kenny’s former team pursuit colleague Dani Rowe also taking part, as is Chris Newton, who reached the Olympic podium at three successive Games from 2000 to 2008.
A couple more 2012 Olympians will be worth watching out for as Laura Robson, who won mixed doubles silver alongside Andy Murray, and Aaron Ramsey, part of the Team GB football team 14 years ago, will both be running.
And it is not just summer Olympians on the start line. Aimee Fuller, fresh from media duties at Milano Cortina 2026, is back for her second London Marathon.
Two years ago, the former snowboarder competed in London for the first time and she is back for more this time around.
This year’s marathon begins at 9.35am on Sunday for the mass start at the elite men, with the elite women setting off at 9.05am and the elite wheelchair race starting at 8.50am.
Sportsbeat 2026