Full British start lists revealed as 2026 TCS London Marathon Elite Week begins
- Emile Cairess takes aim at Sir Mo Farah's British record
- Eilish McColgan confirms her return to TCS London Marathon for second year weeks after setting European 10K record
- TCS New York Marathon stars Patrick Dever and Jess Warner-Judd to make London debuts
Emile Cairess will return to the TCS London Marathon in 2026 with Sir Mo Farah’s records in his sights.
Cairess, who missed the 2025 TCS London Marathon through injury, spearheads a stacked list of British entries for this year’s race, on Sunday 26 April.
The entries include Eilish McColgan, who set a new European 10K record (30:07) in Valencia on Sunday 11 January, plus Patrick Dever and Jess Warner-Judd – who will both race in London for the first time following impressive marathon debuts at the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon.
The unveiling of the British stars taking part kicks off the 2026 TCS London Marathon Elite Week announcements.
After finishing fourth at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Cairess had a frustrating 2025, missing the TCS London Marathon through injury and struggling with the oppressive heat of the World Championships marathon in Tokyo.
He finished off the year by pace-making Alex Yee to a time of 2:06:37 at the Valencia Marathon, a mark which meant Yee has now leapfrogged Cairess to second in the all-time British marathon rankings.
Now Cairess has a clear aim for the 2026 TCS London Marathon: to run faster than he has ever done before (his personal best stands at 2:06:46) and move back up the all-time British marathon leaderboard – with Sir Mo Farah’s position at the top within range.
Sir Mo owns the all-time British marathon record of 2:05:11, set in Chicago in 2018, as well as the record for the fastest time by a Brit on the London Marathon course (2:05:39 from 2019).
Cairess said: “2025 was a frustrating year for me so it’s nice to close the book on that and look forward to 2026. My last two marathons have been championship races, it was the 2024 TCS London Marathon when I last approached a marathon with a primary focus on how fast I can run, so I’m looking forward to doing that at this year’s TCS London Marathon.
“Sir Mo is the greatest ever British endurance athlete and, of course, I am aware of his marathon records, but my primary focus is on being competitive in the world’s best marathons. To do that in a race like the TCS London Marathon, I know that I need to run faster than I have done before, so that is the aim first and foremost.”
Cairess will be joined on the Start Line by Dever, who finished fourth at the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon on his debut over the 26.2-mile distance, finishing in a time of 2:08:58 on the notoriously tough course.
Dever’s result in New York was the fastest ever time by an English athlete in the history of the event and with a half marathon personal best of 60:11 and a 10,000m PB of 27:08, the Preston Harrier has the credentials to begin a thrilling British rivalry with Cairess over the marathon distance.
The pair are just over a year apart in age and have competed against each other many times through their junior careers, including at the Mini London Marathon in 2012 when Dever was sixth and Cairess 24th. Most notably they had a fascinating duel at the British Universities Cross Country Championships in 2019 when, after slugging it out over 10K of mud, the pair were separated by a thousandth of a second, with Cairess edging the win.
Dever, who is based in the USA, said: “I was very proud of my debut in New York and it showed I can be competitive in the best marathons in the world. Now I’m really looking forward to coming back to the UK and race in the TCS London Marathon. I have had many battles with Emile over the years, on many surfaces, but obviously never over the marathon distance. We are close in age and have raced each other many times so it will be good to do it again on the big stage at the TCS London Marathon.”
Another British marathon runner on the up is Phil Sesemann, who ran his second PB in as many marathons at the 2025 Valencia Marathon where he clocked 2:07:10 to go fifth on the all-time British list. This came after he ran 2:07:17 just seven weeks earlier in Amsterdam.
With Mahamed Mahamed, the first Brit at last year’s TCS London Marathon and the fourth-fastest Brit in history (2:07:05) also retuning, it means three of the five fastest domestic athletes in history will toe the Start Line on Sunday 26 April.
On the women’s side, McColgan returns to the TCS London Marathon looking to build on an encouraging debut last year when she finished eighth in 2:24:25. The time was a Scottish record and the fourth fastest ever by a Brit in London.
McColgan said: “It was a long time coming making my marathon debut and, looking back at last year’s TCS London Marathon, I’m proud of how I performed. Now I’ve got one marathon under my belt, I’m excited to be able to use the experiences of last year to kick on again. British women’s marathon running is really strong at the moment so it’s going to be a great occasion for us to show that in a world-class field at this year’s event.”
McColgan was one of three British athletes to debut over the marathon distance in 2025 and record times that sit inside the all-time top 10 of British female marathon performances. All will be on the Start Line at the 2026 TCS London Marathon, setting up an intriguing battle for British supremacy.
After running 2:26:21 on her marathon debut at the 2025 Rotterdam Marathon, in April, Abbie Donnelly then clocked 2:24:11 at the Frankfurt Marathon last October to put her seventh on the all-time list, while Jess Warner-Judd chose the challenging TCS New York City Marathon, one of the seven Abbott World Marathon Majors, as her first marathon and finished seventh in 2:24:45, the ninth fastest ever by a Brit.
Warner-Judd, who won the Mini London on four occasions, said: “There is a huge nervousness for anyone stepping up to the marathon distance because it is a step into the unknown. But I was so happy with my run in New York and now my focus is on the TCS London Marathon, an event that means a lot to me. I have some incredible memories of winning the Mini London Marathon and watching my dad complete three London Marathons. The atmosphere in the city is just incredible on Marathon Day. I grew up just down the road from London so, in many ways, it feels like a local race and I can’t wait to experience it!”
2026 TCS London Marathon: British male entry list
Emile Cairess (GBR, 2:06:46)
Mahamed Mahamed (GBR, 2:07:05)
Philip Sesemann (GBR, 2:07:10)
Patrick Dever (GBR, 2:08:58)
Weynay Ghebresilasie (GBR, 2:09:50)
Tewelde Menges (GBR, 2:09:58)
George James (GBR, 2:10:10)
Jake Smith (GBR, 2:11:00)
Marc Scott (GBR, 2:11:19)
Jack Rowe (GBR, 2:12:31)
Andrew Fyfe (GBR, 2:13:20)
Alex Milne (GBR, 2:14:03)
Peter Le Grice (GBR, 2:14:45)
Sean Hogan (GBR, 2:14:51)
Christopher Thomas (GBR, 2:14:55)
Jake Barraclough (GBR, 2:14:55)
Chris Perry (GBR, 2:14:57)
David Bishop (GBR, 2:15:16)
Charlie Sandison (GBR, 2:15:38)
William Mycroft (GBR, 2:15:54)
Alfie Manthorpe (GBR, Debut)
2026 TCS London Marathon: British women’s entry list
Charlotte Purdue (GBR, PB 2:22:17)
Rose Harvey (GBR, 2:23:21)
Abbie Donnelly (GBR, 2:24:11)
Eilish McColgan (GBR, 2:24:25)
Jessica Warner-Judd (GBR, 2:24:45)
Lucy Reid (GBR, 2:26:35)
Louise Small (GBR, 2:27:48)
Alice Wright (GBR, 2:28:48)
Verity Hopkins (GBR, 2:31:19)