The London Marathon is an international treasure that transcends running, with thousands of people from across the globe convening in the UK’s capital to complete the famous 26.2-mile course from Greenwich to The Mall. Every runner, walker and wheelchair athlete has a reason for taking part, whether that’s to set a personal best, raise money for charity, enter the Guinness World Records Hall of Fame or simply get around while making unbeatable memories.
The London Marathon generates some outstanding stories every year – and the 2024 event was no exception. Here, we’ve drilled into the numbers and rounded up 10 top figures from this year’s race.
Numbers from the 2024 London Marathon
£67 million
Already, the 2024 London Marathon has raised a staggering £67 million for charitable causes, with more funds still being received. As such, the London Marathon has set a new world record for the biggest one-day fundraising event, beating the previous mark – set at the 2019 London Marathon – of £66.4 million.
53,000
Well, just over, to be precise. This huge figure refers to the number of people who completed the 2024 London Marathon – making it the largest London Marathon since the event started in 1981. This well and truly outdoes the London Marathon’s previous best of 43,965 finishers, which was achieved at the 2023 edition.
91
The age of the oldest participant at the 2024 London Marathon, David Picksley – who was also the only person over the age of 90 to take part. Picksley, who advocates running for people of all ages, started running in his youth and focused on marathons in his 50s and 60s. After a hiatus of a few decades, Picksley then returned to the 26.2-mile distance at the 2023 London Marathon before taking on the race again this year.
18
The youngest participant at the 2024 London Marathon was William Hamilton, who turned 18 on Friday 19 April – just two days before the event. Meanwhile, Lloyd Martin, a 19-year-old runner with Down’s syndrome, was awarded the Guinness World Records title for the youngest person to complete a marathon in the intellectual impairment category (LL2).
270
The number of participants who celebrated their birthday on the day of the 2024 London Marathon. Let’s hope running 26.2 miles was the greatest birthday gift of them all!
44
The number of Guinness World Records that were broken at the 2024 London Marathon. We saw the fastest marathon dressed as a traffic cone (male) (Matt Everett, 3:22:16), the fastest marathon carrying a bicycle (Ben Kellett, 3:54:52), the fastest marathon in a full-body inflatable costume (female) (Georgina Box, 5:10:31) and many more weird and wonderful running-based achievements. We’ve picked out some more Guinness World Records highlights from this year’s London Marathon below...
2:16:16
Peres Jepchirchir’s spectacular finish time at the 2024 London Marathon, making her the new women’s-only marathon world record holder. She bettered the previous mark of 2:17:01 by 45 seconds, with the women who finished just behind her in second, third and fourth – Tgist Assefa, Joyciline Jepkosgei and Megertu Alemu respectively – also running quicker than 2:17 this year. To say that this year’s London Marathon had a strong elite women’s field is an understatement.
2:42:01
Another blistering time clocked by Paralympic athlete Richard Whitehead, which also secured him the Guinness World Records title for the fastest marathon (LA3) (male), which refers to athletes with bilateral knee amputations. An accomplished blade runner, Whitehead is a two-time Paralympic gold medallist who has previously set world records in both the marathon and half marathon for athletes with a double amputation.
100
How many layers would you wear during a race? On a mild but breezy spring day, as we had for the 2024 London Marathon, one layer would do – or maybe two at a push. Brendan Matthews, meanwhile, decided to wrap up exceedingly well and wear 100 T-shirts for the race, earning him the Guinness Worlds Records title for the most T-shirts worn during a marathon (male) (5:49:33) at the finish line.
10
There are costumes, and then there’s the 10-person outfit resembling a bus. Driven by Jackie Scully and backed up by nine more runners (Frances Walker, Petr Maslov, Aileen Rice-Jones, Daniel Smith, Alex Weight, James Read, Kate Rham, Cameron Sharpe and Michael Edwards), the bus successfully completed its journey from Greenwich to The Mall in a time of 6:32:05, earning the passengers the Guinness World Records title for the fastest marathon in a 10-person costume.
