© Copyright – 2026 – Athletics Illustrated
The 2026 London Marathon organizers have assembled one of, if not the deepest, marathon fields outside of an Olympics or World Championships.
Kenyan Sabastian Sawe, with his 2:02:05 personal best, is the fastest active marathon runner, but not by much. Also in the field is Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda with his 2:02:23, as well as Deresa Geleta from Ethiopia, bringing his 2:02:38 to the line.
That’s three Sub-2:03 athletes.
Sawe has also run a 2:02:16 at the 2025 Berlin Marathon, which is faster than Kiplimo’s 2:02:23 number two-seeded time. Sawe set his three 2:02s in 2024 and 2025:
Valencia Marathon (2024) – 2:02:05
London Marathon (2025) – 2:02:27
Berlin Marathon (2025) – 2:02:16
Kiplimo holds the world half-marathon record at 56:42, which he set in Barcelona in February 2025.
Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya is a three-time World Half-Marathon champion and former half-marathon world record holder. He may not have hit his stride yet in the marathon, having run 2:04:03. Meanwhile, Joshua Cheptegei, the world record holder in both the 10,000m and 5000m is ranked eighth with his 2:04:52.
“I’m really looking forward to coming back to London,” said Kamworor. “I had a great race here in 2023 and this course brings out the best in you.”
“I’m very excited,” said Cheptegei. “I’ve got great memories in London as it’s where I won my first world medal in 2017. I’m excited to return and test myself against the best!”
The home country is fielding a strong team with Emile Cairess (2:06:46), Mahamed Mahamed (2:07:050, Philip Seasmann (2:07:10), Patrick Dever (2:08:58), Deqi Griffiths (2:09:49), among several others lining up.
Yomig Kejelcha is lining up for his debut. He formerly held the world record in the half-marathon, having clocked 57:30. Interestingly, he also holds the indoor mile world record at 3:47.01 from 2019.
Sabastian Sawe KE 2:02:05
Jacob Kiplimo UG 2:02:23
Deresa Geleta ET 2:02:38
Amos Kipruto KE 2:03:13
Tamirat Tola UG 2:03:39
Amanal Petros DE 2:04:03
Geoffrey Kamworor KE 2:04:23
Joshua Cheptegei UG 2:04:52
Shunya Kikuchi JP 2:06:06
Emile Cairess GB 2:06:46
Mahamed Mahamed GB 2:07:05
Philip Sesemann GB 2:07:10
Hassan Chahdi FR 2:07:30
Adam Lipschitz ZA 2:08:54
Patrick Dever GB 2:08:58
Peter Lynch IE 2:09:36
Tim Vincent AU 2:09:40
Dewi Griffiths GB 2:09:49
Weynay Ghebresilasie GB 2:09:50
Tewelde Menges GB 2:09:58
George James GB 2:10:10
Liam Boudin AU 2:10:28
Jake Smith GB 2:11:00
Marc Scott GB 2:11:19
Jack Rowe GB 2:12:31
Andrew Fyfe GB 2:13:20
Alex Milne GB 2:14:03
Peter Le Grice GB 2:14:45
Sean Hogan GB 2:14:51
Jack Barraclough GB 2:14:55
Christopher Thomas GB 2:14:55
Chris Perry GB 2:14:57
David Bishop GB 2:15:16
Charlie Sandison GB 2:15:38
William Mycroft GB 2:15:54
Yomif Kejelcha ET Debut
Hagos Gebrhiwet ET Debut
Isaia Kipkoech Lasio KE Debut
Alfie Manthorpe GB Debut
Women’s field
In the women’s field, former world record holder Tigst Assefa from Ethiopia will be racing. She brings her personal best of 2:11:53 to the line.
As earlier reported, Sifan Hassan has committed to racing the event.
“London is always exciting,” Hassan said. “This is where I made my marathon debut, and that’s exactly why I’m excited to come back!”
Hassan currently holds seven European records in distance from the 1500m (3:51.95) to the marathon. She also holds two national records and the World Best Known Time for the one-hour run, accomplishing a distance of 18.930 kms, which would work out to be approximately 66:50 over the 21.1km half-marathon.
The 33-year-old is a three-time Olympic gold medallist. She also earned three Olympic bronze during the Rio, Tokyo and Paris Olympic Games. Hassan is a six-time medallist at the World Championships with two gold medals.
Joyciline Jepkosgei from Kenya is seeded third. She won the event in 2019 in 2:17:43. Seeded right behind her is Tokyo Olympic marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir with her 2:14:43 best. Interestingly, four years later, she won the Tokyo World Athletics Championships marathon.
Two-time Olympic 5000m silver medallist Hellen Obiri from Kenya has not raced a top time yet, but she knows how to race, as she has won the Boston and New York Marathons twice each.
There is good representation from Great Britain with Charlotte Purdue (2:23:17), Rose Harvey (2:23:21), Abbie Donnelly (2:24:11), Eilish McColgan (2:24:24 debut) and Lucy Reid (2:26:35) who plan to be at the start line.
Tigst Assefa ET 2:11:53
Sifan Hassan NE 2:13:44
Joyciline Jepkosgei KE 2:14:00
Peres Jepchirchir KE 2:14:43
Megertu Alemu ET 2:16:34
Hellen Obiri KE 2:17:41
Degitu Azimeraw ET 2:17:58
Catherine Relin Amanang’ole KE 2:20:34
Charlotte Purdue GB 2:22:17
Laura Luengo ESP 2:22:31
Rose Harvey GB 2:23:21
Abbie Donnelly GB 2:24:11
Florencia Borelli ARG 2:24:18
Eilish McColgan GB 2:24:25
Jessica Warner-Judd GB 2:24:45
Fadouwa Ledhem FR 2:25:50
Marta Galimany ESP 2:26:14
Lucy Reid GB 2:26:35
Julia Paternain URU 2:27:09
Louise Small GB 2:27:48
Alice Wright GB 2:28:48
Verity Hopkins GB 2:31:19
