If you’re preparing for this year’s London Marathon, which is now – alarm bells – less than two days aways, your mind will likely be whirring away with all kinds of emotions. Whether you’re running your first marathon or your fiftieth this Sunday (27 April), you’ll either be anxious, over the moon, experiencing phantom niggles, panicking about your taper, toying between difference shoes, craving the big vibes on course, or in need of a lie down – or maybe all of the above and more.
This pre-race grey area is an odd time, but you’re not alone if it makes you feel all the feels. In fact, even the best in the game are not immune from such thoughts. As we discovered at this year’s elite athlete London Marathon press conferences in St James’s Park, located right next to that iconic finish line on The Mall, the best marathon runners in the world are still humans. They dream big and train and race (extremely) hard, but they can also get imposter syndrome and feel nervous before competitions.
Either way, the elites at the 2025 London Marathon form one of the strongest fields that the event has ever seen – and they’re all buzzing to toe the line in Blackheath this year. Here’s what they had to say.
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Proceedings kicked off on Thursday (24 April) with the elite men’s press conference, which saw some of the fastest men on the planet convene under one marquee roof. That’s a lot of speed in one space.
Eliud Kipchoge, who, with four wins at the race, has won the London Marathon more times than any other person, was happy to be back in London and, as ever, flowing with marathon wisdom. ‘It is about doing the action,’ he said. ‘That is why I am running. I am still hungry to inspire somebody, somewhere. I am still hungry to motivate somebody, somewhere. I am happy to train each day for races like Sunday’s London Marathon – to showcase to people that this is what I do.’
During the press conference, Kipchoge was also awarded the John Disley Lifetime Achievement Award, named after the London Marathon co-founder. A rare prize, he became only the sixth person to receive this award in recognition of his ongoing contributions to the running world.
‘I want to talk the language that everybody understands, which is the language of running, to every citizen in this world,’ said the 40-year-old Kenyan, shortly after accepting the award. ‘I want to tell people that they are not limited at all, in anything that they are doing.’
Although Kipchoge is known as the inspirational GOAT of the 26.2-mile distance, let’s not undermine his ferociously fast competitors.
Tamirat Tola, who won the men’s marathon at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, is now hoping to better the third-place position that he achieved at the 2023 London Marathon.
‘I am happy to be the Olympic champion because it was my dream,’ said Tola, of Ethiopia, at the press conference. ‘My next dream is to come again to London with challengers like Kipchoge. I also want to challenge myself and always increase my ability. I am happy to participate again.’
Alex Mutiso, who broke the tape at last year’s London Marathon in a time of 2:04:01, has also returned to England’s capital in a bid to retain his title on Sunday.
‘[The 2024 London Marathon] was my first major marathon and I won – that is one of my memories that I cannot forget,’ mused the Kenyan. ‘On Sunday, it will be epic running with the strongest field ever.’
Another mighty contender for the London Marathon title is Kenya’s Sebastian Sawe, who became the fifth-fastest marathoner of all time when he stormed to victory at the 2024 Valencia Marathon in a time of 2:02:05. This race, remarkably, was his marathon debut.
‘It was the happiest moment for me to run the fastest time that year in the Valencia Marathon – I was so excited,’ he said. ‘I trained well for the London Marathon this year. I will wait for Sunday, start the race and see what will come.’
Last but certainly not least at the elite men’s press conference was Jacob Kiplimo, the 24-year-old Ugandan who ran a blinding time 56:42 at Barcelona Half Marathon in February to shave 48 seconds off the existing men’s half marathon world record. Bewilderingly, Kiplimo said that this seismic result was an unlucky outcome, as his only real aim in Barcelona was to run well, somewhat under the radar. ‘That day, I just went out to run a good race,’ he said. ‘But, unfortunately, I got the world record.’ As you do.
So, with the pressure now very much on, how will Kiplimo fare at this year’s London Marathon, which will be his hotly anticipated marathon debut?
‘The marathon is going to be a challenge, but I know that I’m going to do my best,’ said a smiling Kiplimo, who also revealed that he wants to finish the race in a podium position. ‘Maybe the marathon is my best distance!’
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Next up for their press conference were the Brits – a clean sweep of Olympians.
Despite being the European record holder for the 10K road race, as well as the British record holder for the 5000m, 10,000m, 5K road race and half marathon, decorated athlete Eilish McColgan was still ‘bricking it’ about her marathon debut on Sunday.
More confident were London Marathon returners Rose Harvey, Mahamed Mahamed and Phil Sesemann, all of whom represented Team GB in their respective marathon events at last year’s Olympics.
‘It has been a great block of training,’ said Harvey, who sustained a bone injury during her Olympic debut last summer. ‘I’m very lucky that, with a lot of help from my team, I’ve had a very smooth comeback. It’s really exciting to be here in London.
‘All the hard work is done and race day should be a celebration of that,’ adds Harvey, speaking to the tens of thousands of other runners who will hit the London Marathon start line on Sunday. ‘All the times when you didn’t want to go out training, all the soggy runs, all the early mornings – this is the fun part, so don’t forget to enjoy it. When it gets hard, just smile!’
Mahamed, like Harvey, suffered an injury after his Olympic experience last year. However, having placed an incredible fourth at the 2024 London Marathon, he is now more excited that ever to return to the famous 26.2-mile circuit.
‘The noise down the finishing straight last year is hard to explain,’ he recalled. ‘It was amazing, it was really loud and it pushed me a lot and gave me extra motivation to finish strong. The crowds were incredible.’
One of Britain’s most accomplished and consistent marathon specialists – who also happens to enjoy an indoor 3000m – is Sesemann. Having placed seventh overall at his marathon debut in London in 2021, he has gone on to achieve two more top 10 performances at the London Marathon, as well as an enviable marathon PB of 2:08:04. Even so, despite his top-tier results, he still enjoys a more low-key marathon build.
‘This training block has been more similar to my first marathon build, with no training camps and no altitude,’ said Sesemann, who often trains with his dogs, Haile and Kipchoge. ‘I’ve just been in Leeds running up and down the canal.’
One of the most fascinating performances of the weekend, however will come from Alex Yee. A triathlete by trade, who is no less than the reigning Olympic and world champion in the discipline, Yee will run his inaugural marathon on Sunday – and even though he feels as though he’s ‘taken wrong turn to get in here’, things are looking promising.
‘A little bit of a change post-Olympics and post a really good year in 2024 has been something that I’ve encouraged,’ said Yee, who was, in fact, the British 10,000m champion in 2018. ‘It has been really cool to be part of such a big running community and to try to get better in a slightly different way.
‘The bike and goggles have been left at home,’ he added. ‘I’ve already been complaining that I’ve packed too much, so I couldn’t bring my bike here as well.’
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Friday (25 April) staged the elite women’s press conference. With Peres Jepchirchir, who set the women’s-only world record of 2:16:16 at the London Marathon last year, and marathon world record holder Ruth Chepngetich, who became the first-ever woman to break the 2:10 barrier at last year’s Chicago Marathon, now out of Sunday’s contest, we were left with a trio of talent in the media tent. These three athletes were Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenya, Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands and Tigist Assefa of Ethiopia.
The former world record holder in the 10K and half marathon, Jepkosgei has reached the podium on all three of her previous London Marathon appearances, with the 2021 race seeing her take the win. Now, she’s looking to run even faster – but she still respects the challenges that the marathon presents.
‘A marathon is like a chapter of a book and I learn something new with every single race,’ she said. ‘But now, I’m confident that my fitness is in a good place.
‘Everyone has different goals in a marathon – they might be going for a world record, a personal best, or just to finish,’ continued Jepkosgei, reflecting on Sunday’s race as a whole. ‘Everyone is the best, because everyone is aiming to get to the finish line.’
Forever a nervous ball of energy who pulls it out of the bag in phenomenal fashion on race day, the multi-talented Hassan was both thrilled and terrified about being entered into Sunday’s race – and eager to not repeat the nail-biting theatre of her previous London Marathon in 2023. At this race, which was her marathon debut, she stopped mid-run to stretch, almost collided with an official motorbike on the course and yet, despite these mishaps, still won.
‘Before the race [in 2023], I was so nervous I was throwing up,’ recalled Hassan, who, after her victory in London, went on to set a then-course record at the 2023 Chicago Marathon and scoop iconic marathon gold at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. ‘I still don’t know why I get scared of the marathon – it is great and I’ll still never forget that first win in London, but I’ve also had a lot of drama. I don’t want any drama on Sunday!’
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Of course, when Hassan won the Olympic marathon last August, she wasn’t the only runner in the field. After another tense tussle on the finishing stretch, Hassan just about out-kicked Assefa, who at the time was the women’s marathon world record holder, having conquered the 2023 Berlin Marathon in a phenomenal time of 2:11:53.
But is Assefa, who is still the second-fastest woman of all time over the marathon, behind only Chepngetich, afraid to lose a battle with Hassan again? Apparently not.
‘I love having these tight battles with Hassan,’ smiled Assefa, who was formerly an 800m specialist. ‘I’m really happy to be fighting it out closely with her and the other athletes.
‘Whenever I race, I want to win, so I’ve got just as much motivation to win this year’s London Marathon as ever,’ she added. ‘I’d say that I was in better shape now than I was when I got the world record in Berlin.’
These are bold words indeed – so let Sunday’s battles commence.
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