London Marathon 2026

Report by Richard Allan

The London Marathon is an epic race which starts way before race day, the “You’re in email” (yes it does happen occasionally) or a Good For Age qualifier or signing up to raise a huge amount of money for a charity and then the months of training with early morning starts, rain and wind (that coastal wind we’ve had has seemingly been non-stop this year), grinding out the miles before you even get to the starting line.

For me it had been a really good training block, a couple of injuries but overall, pretty happy with it especially the long runs (getting a couple of 23 mile runs as well as the usual 20-21 miles felt great for confidence), the cornerstone of any marathon training plan. Most of that block has been solo runs (sorry for being anti-social and not making it to TRAC training sessions), early in a morning before work but seeing some familiar faces during those runs has been great and my favourite long run (as well as being my last one) was a social 21 miles with Andy Stevens – thanks mate!

As usual lots of paranoia during the dreaded taper, have I done enough (yes don’t do anything stupid at this point…), should I just go out for a “little tempo sharpener” (no, don’t do anything stupid…), should I have an extra glass or water (yes, you’ve probably not drunk enough to be fully hydrated) etc., so roll on the day before race day and that’s when nerves start to kick in as usual and repeated checks of my race day kit…

An early start to get the train to Blackheath; my start zone was the pink one so got off at Maze Hill and was greeted with a long steep hill to hike up to get there – thanks for that! Fortunately I was in Wave 2 so I knew I wouldn’t have to hang around for too long but came prepared with a throwaway hoodie and foil blanket to keep warm but as the sun was getting up it was pretty clear that it was going to be a warm one and my TRAC vest and shorts were enough without shivering away on the start line, all that was left to do was down my start line gel and have a final swig of water.

A few nervous chats with various other runners on the start line while we waited for Wave 1 to go off and then the announcement went up that Wave 2 was about to go, all the training was done, it was time to see if it paid off or not! I had a few potential times to aim for in my head and decided that my most ambitious goal wasn’t going to happen so decided to take it steady for the first few miles and see how it went from there.

Knowing that the first few miles are where my body would decide if I had a good day or not it was time to be sensible and settled into a decent steady pace, knowing that mile 3 and 4 have quite a big descent I would have to remain focused. As usual the course was very busy and had to do a fair bit of dodging around people while trying keep to that blue line where I could – I certainly didn’t want to run further than I needed to! As the various race routes merged into one again it got a bit more crowded and as usual around Cutty Sark it was really busy, but the crowd noise was awesome, just a great booster but a few mental reminders not to get carried away as only a quarter of the way round at that point! A slight twinge in my ankle appeared around the 8 mile mark but figured nothing could do about it at that point, just got to keep pushing on and still felt pretty good heading towards one of the most iconic parts of the course, London Bridge just before mile 13, the noise from the crowds is amazing here, they are packed in deep and so close to the edge of the course the boost is amazing at this point.

Shortly after London Bridge is a section of the route that has people running both out towards Canary Wharf and those nearing the end running back towards Central London and I had the privilege of seeing the front pack of runners coming towards me. The pace they were holding was phenomenal; little did I know just how fast they were going…

It’s after this where people start to struggle a bit and the tunnel around Mile 15 is infamous, not sure if it is the contrast of the bright sunshine on the course to the darker tunnel that hits people; this year was no exception, there were runners starting to sway and stagger and that continued through to the finish line.

I knew it was going to be tough going through the docklands area and it was, the tall buildings play havoc with GPS so trying to focus on what pace you’re going at makes it much more difficult. I know I wasn’t concentrating enough as my pace dropped off for a couple of miles here even though my legs were still feeling ok at that point.

After mile 20, it’s “just 10k to go”, but as we all know this is where the race really starts, was your training good enough, was your nutrition and hydration good enough? It’s always a bit of an unknown and that is where the marathon is unique amongst most distances. My pace was dropping a little so the answer for me there is I’ve still got work to do! I could blame my ankle, yes, it was sore by this point but there are always ways to improve on training…

It was really welcome to be able to start knocking off the miles as we headed nearer to some more of the landmarks such as The London Eye and the Houses of Parliament, knowing when I could see these it meant I really didn’t have far to go even if my muscles were screaming and I could feel them considering cramping up (fortunately they didn’t this time). Having taken a gel every 5 miles I was pleased that I had brought an emergency gel with me to take in the last few miles, as the last 5k (only a parkrun…) was looming that gel was gulped down and whether I needed it or it was a psychological boost who knows but it helped me to get through those last few miles.

Coming off the Embankment onto Birdcage Walk I knew I only had about a mile or so to go, and the crowd noise went up to a different level, when you really need it, the crowd really are the best! Then seeing Buckingham Palace on my side, I knew it was just a few hundred metres to go, and the finish line was such a welcome sight. As much as my tired legs were rebelling, I did try to give it a bit of a push, certainly not the sprint finish, but the best I had left!

So, what did I think of the day? As ever, the crowds were amazing, there isn’t a quiet spot on the course – get your name printed on your vest, hearing your name shouted by a random person is a great little boost. The volunteers were brilliant; they were everywhere and so friendly and helpful. It was hot out there and I took on some water at most of the water stations, a bit to drink and some to cool me down with, essential on the day! The Lucozade aid stations were carnage with cups scattered all over the course and super sticky floor throughout (I didn’t use any, I just hate that sticky feeling and struggle to keep it down); I’m guessing most people carried their own gels (Hi-5 for me) as I didn’t see anyone taking the Lucozade gels, which from my past experience is a good plan, I find them to be pretty disgusting and hard to get down (and stay down).

This was my second London Marathon, and it was a lot more enjoyable, my fitness was much better and even though I faded a bit in the last few miles I was really happy with the result, a 6 minute improvement on last time at London and a marathon PB of 3:13:56.

As a bonus it feels amazing to be part of the same race that saw World Records fall in both the Men’s and Women’s category and the phenomenal racing that led to two runners go sub-2 hours for the first time under race conditions.

Some great work from various Thanet Roadrunners out there, well done everyone!