{"id":22851,"date":"2026-04-27T06:07:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T06:07:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/22851\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T06:07:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T06:07:31","slug":"london-marathon-in-pictures-record-breakers-marriage-proposals-and-daddy-pig","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/22851\/","title":{"rendered":"London Marathon in pictures: Record breakers, marriage proposals and Daddy Pig"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some ran, some walked, many suffered blisters and chafing, but tens of thousands of people completed the 2026 TCS London<\/a> Marathon in ideal race conditions on Sunday.<\/p>\n

As the course wended its way from Greenwich, in east London<\/a>, past landmarks including the Cutty Sark and Tower Bridge<\/a>, the runners paced themselves over 26.2 miles to the finish line on The Mall.<\/p>\n

Last year, the marathon raised a record \u00a387.3 million for charities, bringing the cumulative total raised since the first race in 1981 to \u00a31.4 billion, making it the biggest single-day fundraising event, according to organisers.<\/p>\n

With a record number of participants in 2026, the event hoped to beat the total this year.<\/p>\n

\"Around<\/p>\n

Around 59,000 runners took part in the 2026 TCS London Marathon. (PA)<\/p>\n

\"Runners<\/p>\n

Runners are seen from inside Tower Bridge as they cross the River Thames (Getty)<\/p>\n

\"Runners<\/p>\n

Runners raised money for charity, with some going the extra mile in fancy dress (Ben Whitely\/PA)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A giant telephone raised awareness of the Samaritans lifeline service (Ben Whitely\/PA)<\/p>\n

\"One<\/p>\n

One runner proposes after finishing the 2026 TCS London Marathon (PA)<\/p>\n

In the elite races, Sabastian Sawe smashed the world record<\/a> and became the first man to break the two-hour barrier in an official competition to win in one hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds.<\/p>\n

The Kenyan said he was living proof \u201cnothing is impossible\u201d as he defended his 2025 title, beating debutant Yomif Kejelcha by 11 seconds. The Ethiopian runner-up also crossed the line in an astonishing one hour, 59 minutes and 41 seconds, while Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda finished third in two hours, 28 seconds.<\/p>\n

All three were faster than the previous official world record of two hours, 35 seconds set by the late Kelvin Kiptum in 2023, while Sawe\u2019s time was also 10 seconds faster than the unofficial one hour, 59 minutes and 40 seconds set by Eliud Kipchoge in a 2019 exhibition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ve made history today in London, and for the new generation (it shows) to run a record is possible,\u201d said Sawe.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt depends on the preparation you had and the discipline you had, so for me I think I have shown them that nothing is impossible.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is possible with a matter of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was ready today. I was well-prepared for the London Marathon<\/a> and for today\u2019s results. I\u2019m so happy because I had a lot of courage to push, even when the pace was fast.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something not to be forgotten, something to be remembered, and it will remain in my mind forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

London Marathon Events CEO Hugh Brasher said: \u201cIt is, without doubt, the greatest day in London Marathon history.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople said that Sir Roger Bannister\u2019s mile was the greatest sporting moment of the 20th century. Is this the greatest sporting moment of the 21st century? I don\u2019t know, but it was just brilliant.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was also a new standard set in the women\u2019s race, won by Tigst Assefa<\/a>, who defended her London Marathon crown in a women\u2019s-only world record two hours, 15 minutes and 41 seconds.<\/p>\n

\"Sabastian<\/p>\n

Sabastian Sawe winning the men\u2019s elite race in a world-record time (John Walton\/PA)<\/p>\n

\"Eilish<\/p>\n

Eilish McColgan was the fastest British woman, finishing seventh in front of Buckingham Palace in two hours, 24 minutes and 51 seconds (John Walton\/PA)<\/p>\n

\"Marcel<\/p>\n

Marcel Hug after crossing the finish line to win the men\u2019s wheelchair race (John Walton\/PA)<\/p>\n

Celebrities also took part, including children\u2019s TV character Daddy Pig, with fitness expert Joe Wicks<\/a> running alongside the Peppa Pig patriarch as his official trainer.<\/p>\n

The Peppa Pig theme tune played as Daddy Pig crossed the finish line in five hours and 51 minutes.<\/p>\n

The pair ran for the National Deaf Children\u2019s Society after a Peppa Pig storyline revealed George Pig is moderately deaf.<\/p>\n

Speaking after the race, Wicks said he feels \u201cvery proud\u201d of Daddy Pig, who he said worked hard in training and was \u201camazing\u201d despite the warm weather.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIt\u2019s lovely when people say \u2018Joe!\u2019 and give me a little cheer, but 99% of it was \u2018Daddy Pig, give us a wave!\u2019, kids smiling, kids getting excited.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I rode off the energy of Daddy Pig today, and it was great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other stars who crossed the finishing line included Wicked actress Cynthia Erivo<\/a> and former England cricketer Sir Alastair Cook.<\/p>\n

Oscar-nominated Erivo completed her race in around three hours and 21 minutes, setting a new personal best and beating her previous time of three hours and 35 minutes achieved in 2022.<\/p>\n

After she completed the run, the exhausted star said: \u201cThere was a little rough moment where I thought it was never going to make it, but then I found a little bit of strength.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here, and I feel really proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

Erivo, who said she got up at 5am on Sunday, will appear on stage at the Noel Coward Theatre in London on Monday, where she is playing all 23 roles in Dracula.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s at 7.30pm, so I should be fine,\u201d she said, adding: \u201cI may be a little slower than usual.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/p>\n

Joe Wicks and Daddy Pig ran as training partners (Ben Whitley\/PA)<\/p>\n

\"Cynthia<\/p>\n

Cynthia Erivo interviewed after finishing the 26.20mile run (2026 TCS London Marathon)<\/p>\n

\"Alexandra<\/p>\n

Alexandra Burke after the 2026 TCS London Marathon (PA)<\/p>\n

\"Olympic<\/p>\n

Olympic champion runner Mo Farah handed out bottles of water on The Embankment (Jas Lehal Media Assignments\/PA)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some ran, some walked, many suffered blisters and chafing, but tens of thousands of people completed the 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22852,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[10221,9849,27,1317,5995,10308],"class_list":{"0":"post-22851","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-cynthia-erivo","9":"tag-finish-line","10":"tag-london","11":"tag-london-marathon","12":"tag-pa","13":"tag-world-record"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116475176113382188","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}