Elite Women's Biographies

Born: 23 November 1995   

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon day: 30 years 5 months 3 days 

London Marathon record: 2024 – 15th 2:02:32, 2025 – 15th 2:05:14  

Notes: The 28-year-old is a specialist over shorter distances, having won silver and bronze medals in the T54 100m and 400m events respectively at the 2023 Paris World Championships. She has represented Mauritius at numerous World Para Athletics Championships and two Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024). She was second in the 2024 Cape Town Marathon.  

Born: 3 May 1980   

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon day: 45 years 11 months 23 days 

London Marathon record: 2009 – 5th 1:50:43, 2013 – 4th 1:50:43, 2014 – 5th 1:51:01, 2015 – 6th 1:56:20, 2016 – 9th 1:56:46 – 2019 – 11th 1:56:16, 2022 – 10th 1:47:33, 2023 – 11th 1:51:32, 2024 – 11th 1:50:48, 2025 – 11th 01:47:58  

Marathons in major championships: Paralympics: 2012 – 6th 1:49:37, 2016 – 9th 1:42:59, 2020 – 8th 1:46:44 ,   

Notes: Dawes finished fifth in the marathon distance at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. The experienced Australian athlete has competed in seven Paralympic Games, with her first in Atlanta in 1996. She also won two gold medals in the 1998 Athletics World Championships in Birmingham, with both coming in the Women's 4 × 400 T54-55 competition.    

Born: 11 April 1995   

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon day: 31 years 0 months 15 days 

Marathon best: 1:34:16 WR, Berlin 2023 

London Marathon record: 2022 – 1st 1:38:24, 2023 – 3rd 1:38:54, 2024 – 1st 1:38:54 , 2025 – 1st 1:34:18  

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors wins: 3 x Berlin: 2022, 2023, 2024, 2 x Chicago: 2023, 2024; 1 x New York 2023, 2 x Tokyo: 2025, 2026 

Marathons in major championships: Paralympics: 2024 – 1st 1:41:50   

Notes: Debrunner cemented herself as the world’s best women’s wheelchair racer at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, where she won an incredible five gold medals in the 400m, 800m, 1,500m, 5,000m and marathon distances. She is also the world record holder over the marathon distance with her time of 1:34:16 set at the BMW Berlin Marathon in 2023. She has won the London Marathon three times on four visits to the British capital and came within two seconds of breaking her own world record while setting the London course record of 1:34:18 in 2025. She has won the BMW Berlin Marathon three times, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and Tokyo Marathon twice and the TCS New York City once.

Born: 24 November 1993  

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon day: 32 years 5 months 2 days 

Marathon best: 1:31:30   

London Marathon record: 2013 – 8th 1:53:44, 2018 – 1st 1:42:58, 2019 – 3rd 1:49:44, 2023 – 1st 1:38:51, 2024 – 4TH 1:45:54, 2025 -DNF  

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors victories: 1 x New York (2021)  

Marathons in major championships: Paralympics 2020 – 1st 1:38:11, 2024 – 2nd 1:46:13; Commonwealths 2018 – 1st 1:44:00, 2022 – 1st 1:56:00   

Notes: De Rozario was the first Australian woman to win the London Marathon when she clinched victory in 2018 and then won again in 2023. She won the Paralympic marathon title at the Tokyo 2020 Games where she also won gold over 800m on the track. She followed that up with a silver in the marathon at last year’s Paralympics in Paris. In total she has competed at five Paralympic Games, starting at the Beijing Paralympics when she was just 14. She has also won the New York City Marathon in 2021 and Commonwealth Games marathon twice (2018 and 2022). From Sydney, Australia, De Rozario was diagnosed with transverse myelitis when she was aged four, a neurological condition that inflames the spinal cord.   

Born: 20 November 1989      

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon day: 36 years 5 months 6 days 

Marathon best: 1:39:55, Duluth 

London Marathon record: 2019- 12th 1:56:19, 2021 – 7th 1:50:13, 2022 – 7th 1:47:29, 2023 – 12th 1:51:44, 2024 – 8th 1:50:43, 2025 – 10th 01:47:57  

Marathons in major championships: Paralympics 2020 – 12th, 2024 – 10th 1:56:33  

Notes: De Souza is a two-time Paralympian, competing in the Games in Tokyo in 2020 (held in 2021) and Paris 2024. Her best result across the Games was 10th in the marathon in Paris where she was 10th. De Souza’s best finish at an Abbott World Marathon Major was sixth in New York in 2019 and she has three top 10 finishes in London on her record. She is a previous winner of the Los Angeles and Seville marathons and was third at the 2025 Sydney Marathon – the first year it was part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors series. 

Born: 26 September 1989   

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon day: 36 years 7 months 0 days   

Marathon best: 1:45:45   

London Marathon record: 2014 – DNF, 2020 – 4th 2:02:38, 2018 – 15th 2:00:18, 2022 – 11th 1:57:12, 2023 – 16th 2:03:48, 2024 – 7th 1:50:39, 2025 – 8th 1:47:55  

Marathons in major championships: Paralympics 2020 – 9th 1:47:06, 2024 – 11th 2:01:39  

Notes: Eachus is a two-time Paralympian (2020 and 2024) who finished fourth at the 2020 London Marathon, on the elite-only course around St James’s Park. She has won two bronze medals at European Championships, in the 1,500m and 400m distances.   

Born: 21 April 1989     

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon day: 37 years 0 months 5 days 

Marathon best: 1:31:30 - Duluth 2019  

London Marathon record: 2011 – 4th 1:46:34, 2012 – 8th 2:05:38, 2013 – 1st 1:46:02, 2014 – 1st 1:45:12, 2015 – 1st 1:41:14, 2016 – 1st 1:44:14, 2018 – 2nd 1:42:58, 2019 – 2nd 1:49:42, 2021 – 3rd 1:44:51, 2023 – 13th 1:56:49, 2024 – 3rd 1:45:51, 2025 – 5th 1:46:50  

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors victories: Boston (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021), Chicago (2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021), New York (2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016)  

Marathons in major championships: Paralympics: 2012 – 9th 1:58:47, 2016 – 2nd 1:38:44, 2024 – 7th 1:53:52; Worlds: 2015 – 1st 1:41:14, 2019 – 2nd 1:49:42  

Notes: McFadden was the world’s best female wheelchair racer over the marathon distance during the early to mid-2010s. A run of dominance included four back-to-back victories in London from 2013 to 2016. In total, she has won 24 Abbott World Marathon Majors races (including nine victories in Chicago) and 22 Paralympic medals, won over seven Paralympics. Born in Russia with spina bifida, McFadden lived in an orphanage for the first six years of her life until she was adopted by an American family from Maryland.   

Born: 19 August 2004    

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon day: 21 years 8 months 7 days 

Marathon best: 1:42:12   

London Marathon record: 2021 – 2nd 1:44:51, 2022 – 4th 1:47:28, 2023 – 10th 1:51:31, 2024 – 14th 1:53:49  

Notes: Menje is a rising star of Paralympic sport. She competes in both winter and summer sports, focusing on cross-country skiing in the winter and athletics in the summer. She finished runner-up at the 2021 London Marathon in just her second race over the marathon distance. She won a gold medal in the 800m at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe and is a former winner of the Mini London Marathon.   

Born: 18 May 1990  

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon day: 35 years 11 months 8 days  

Marathon best: 1:35:50 – Oita 2019   

London Marathon record: 2018 – 10th 1:52:19, 2024 – 12th 1:50:48, 2025 – 14th 01:51:49  

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors top results: Tokyo: 2021 – 1s 1:40:21  

Marathons in major championships: Paralympics: 2020 – 7th 1:42:33, 2024 – 12th 2:04:53  

Notes: Nakamina (nee Kina) won the 2021 Tokyo Marathon and is a two-time Paralympian, competing in the marathon at both the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Games. She is the Japanese national record holder for the marathon with a best of 1:35:50 set in Oita, Japan, in 2019.  

Born: 17 May 2001  

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon day: 24 years 11 months 9 days 

Marathon best: 1:35:11– Boston 2025 

London Marathon record: 2022 – 3rd 1:47:27, 2023 – 7th 1:47:43, 2024 – 6th 1:50:39, 2025 – 4th 01:44:49  

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors victories: Boston (2024)   

Marathons in major championships: Paralympics: 2024 – DNF; Commonwealths: 2022 – 2nd 1:59:45   

Notes: A rising star of British wheelchair racing, Rainbow-Cooper achieved the biggest result of her career so far and became the first British woman to win the Boston Marathon in April 2024. She is on a good run of form at Major marathons, finishing runner-up at the 2025 Sydney Marathon and 2026 Tokyo Marathon and third at the 2025 Berlin Marathon. She made her Paralympics debut at the 2024 Paris Games where her best results was seventh in the 1,500m. She made her London Marathon debut in 2022, where she finished third, and in major championships that year she won a silver medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games Marathon. Rainbow-Cooper was born with sacral agenesis. She began wheelchair racing in 2013 and is coached by the Dutch coach Arno Mul.   

Born: 5 December 1984      

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon day: 41 years 4 months 21 days 

Marathon best: 1:28:17 - Boston 2017      

London Marathon record: 2014 – 2nd 1:46:44, 2015 – 2nd 1:43:56, 2016 – 2nd 1:44:15, 2017 – 1st 1:39:57, 2018 – 4th 1:43:01, 2019 – 1st 1:44:09, 2020 – 2nd 1:41:29, 2021 – 1st 1:39:52, 2023 – 2nd 1:38:52, 2024 – 2nd 1:45:00 , 2025 – 3rd 1:41:06  

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors victories: 4 x Tokyo (2018, 2019, 2023, 2024), 3 x Boston (2017, 2019, 2021), 7 x Berlin (2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2025), 2 x Chicago (2018, 2019), 3 x New York (2017, 2018, 2019).   

Marathons in major championships: Paralympics 2016 – 6th 1:38:46, 2020 – 2nd 1:38:12, 2024 – 4th 1:49:22; Worlds: 2013 – 1st 1:49:45, 2015 – 2nd 1:43:56, 2019 – 1st 1:44:09      

Notes: Schär is one of the greatest marathon wheelchair racers in history. She has won a total of 19 Abbott World Marathon Major victories to her name which includes three London Marathon victories and seven wins in Berlin. Schär was injured in an accident in 1993 and started wheelchair sport at 14.  She has won 10 Paralympic medals (including five at the 2020 Games, the most by any track and field athlete). Schär has been a wheelchair user since the age of eight when a playground accident paralysed her from the waist down.  

Born: 12 September 1986 

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon day: 39 years 7 months 14 days  

Marathon best: 1:45:22 – Oita 2018   

London Marathon record: 2019 – 14th 2:03:37, 2021 – 11th 2:06:02, 2022 – 12th 2:00:10, 2023 – 15th 1:58:58, 2024 – 13th 1:51:11, 2025 – 13th 1:51:36  

Notes: Wheeler is a former Philadelphia and Los Angeles Marathon champion who has clinched top-10 finishes in Chicago and New York. She is a full-time career as a clinical rehabilitation and mental health counsellor.  

Born: 11 October 1997 

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon day: 28 years 6 months 15 days  

Marathon best: 1:37.46, Tokyo 2025  

London Marathon record: N/A 

Notes: Zhou was injured in a car accident at five years old. She was a gold medallist in the 100m and 1500m at the Tokyo Paralympic Games in 2021. She finished third at the 2025 Tokyo Marathon. 

Born: November 17 1998 

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon day: 27 years 5 months 9 days  

Marathon best: X  

London Marathon record: N/A 

Notes: The gold medallist over 5,000m at both the 2024 and 2025 World Championships. Represented China at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. 

Born: 3 December 1996 (Age: 29) 

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon race day: 29 years 4 months 23 days 

Marathon best: 2:11:53 - Berlin 2023   

London Marathon record: 2024 – 2nd 2:16:23, 2025 – 1st 2:15:50    

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors: Berlin 2022 – 1st 2:15:37, 2023 – 1st 2:11:53   

Other major city marathons: Riyadh 2022 – 7th 2:34:01    

Marathons in major championships: Olympics: 2024 – 2nd 2:22:58; World Championships: 2025 – 2nd 2:24:45 

Notes: Assefa ran 2:15:50 to break the women’s only world record and win the 2025 TCS London Marathon to cement her name as one of the greatest marathon runners of all time. She is the two-time BMW Berlin Marathon champion and her personal best of 2:11:53, set when winning in Berlin in 2023, was a then world record and is now the second fastest time by a female marathon runner in history. She is still a relative marathon novice, having run just five marathons including her debut in London last year where she finished second in 2:16:23, and the Paris Olympic Games marathon where she was the silver medallist behind Sifan Hassan. Prior to marathon running, Assefa’s background was over the shorter distances on the track. She was an 800m specialist and becomes the first woman in history to break two minutes in the 800m and 2:20 in the marathon. She competed in the 800m at the 2016 Olympic Games but an Achilles injury meant she then had to turn her attentions to road racing.

Born: 8 December 1993  

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon race day: 32 years 4 months 18 days 

Marathon best: 2:14:00 – Valencia 2025   

London Marathon record: 2021 – 1st 2:17:43, 2022 – 2nd 2:18:07, 2024 – 3rd 2:16:24, 2025 – 2nd 2:18:44   

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors: New York 2019 – 1st 2:22:38; Boston 2022 – 7th 2:24:43; Chicago: 2024 – 5th 2:20:51   

Other major city marathons: Valencia 2020 – 2nd 2:18:40, Valencia 2025 – 1st 2:14:00  

Marathons in major championships: N/A    

Notes: A former world record holder over the half-marathon distance, Jepkosgei made a seamless step up to the marathon by winning the 2019 TCS New York City Marathon and then the 2021 TCS London Marathon, where she set a new PB of 2:17:43. She returned to London in 2022 and finished in second place behind Yalemzerf Yehualaw and then completed a hat-trick of podium finishes in London by finishing third in 2024, setting a new PB of 2:16:24 in the process. In December 2025, Jepkosgei set another PB at the Valencia Marathon, winning the race in a time of 2:14:00, the fourth-fastest women’s time in history.  

Born: 13 December 1989 

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon race day: 36 years, 4 months and 13 days 

Marathon best: 2:17:41, Boston 2025 

London Marathon record: N/A 

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors: New York: 2022 – 6th 2:25:49, 2023 – 1st 2:27:23, 2024 – 2nd 2:24:49, 2025- 1st  2:19:51; Boston: 2023 – 1st 2:21:38, 2024 – 1st 2:22:37, 2025 – 2nd2:17:41 

Other major city marathons: N/A   

Marathons in major championships: Olympics: 2024 – 3rd 2:23:10 

Notes:   Obiri is a Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner who won the 2025 New York Marathon, setting a new course record in a time of 2:19:51 which was nearly three minutes quicker than the previous best. It was her second win in New York following a maiden win in 2023. She has also won the Boston Marathon twice (2023 and 2024) and won a bronze medal in the marathon at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. She will be racing an Abbott World Marathon Major race outside of the USA for the first time in London. Before stepping up to the marathon, she had a successful career on the track which included two World Championship gold medals over 5,000m (2017 and 2019) and two silver medals over the same distance at Olympic Games (2016 and 2020). She is coached by American Dathan Ritzenhein.  

Born: 24 January 1999   

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon race day: 27 years 3 months 2 days 

Marathon best: 2:17:58, London 2021   

London Marathon record: 2021 – 2nd 2:17:58  

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors: Boston: 2022 - 8th 2:25:23 ; Tokyo: 2025 – 8th 2:202:26 

Other major city marathons: Amsterdam: 2019 - 1st 2:19:26; Valencia: 2020 5th 2:19:56; Barcelona 2024 – 1st 2:19:52  

Marathons in major championships: None   

Notes: Degitu Azimeraw has marathon victories in Amsterdam and Barcelona on her CV and was runner-up in the 2021 London Marathon when she set her PB of 2:17:58.  Born in West Gojjam in the Amhara region of Northern Ethiopia, she was inspired to run by listening to the feats of running legends Tirunesh Dibaba and Meseret Defar  

Born: 25 February 1996 

Age on race day: 30 years 2 months 1 day 

Marathon best: 2:18:03, Chicago 2025 

London Marathon record: N/A 

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors: Berlin: 2023 3rd 2:18:41; Tokyo: 2024 – 11th 2:32:58;  Chicago: 2025 – 3rd 2:18:03 

Other major city marathons: Hamburg: 2017 – 5th 2:33:28; Mumbai: 2017 – 4th 2:34:51; Shenzen: 2024 – 1st 2:29:30; Paris: 2025 – 4th 2:21:31 

Marathons in major championships: World Championships: 2017 – DNF; Olympic Games: 2024 – 39th 2:31:58 

Notes: The Tanzanian record holder for the marathon (2:18:03), Shauri has two Abbott World Marathon Majors podium finishes to her name (Berlin in 2023 and Chicago in 2025).  

Born: 23 May 1993 

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon race day: 32 years 11 months 3 days 

Marathon best: 2:20:02, Seoul 2022 

London Marathon record: 2014 - DNF 

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors: New York: 2024 – 4th 2:25:58 

Other major city marathons: Nairobi: 2012 – 8th 2:38:58; Hong Kong: 2013 – 6th 2:33:25, 2019 – 2nd 2:30:02; Cape Town: 2015 – 2nd 2:33:12; Amsterdam: 2016 – 3rd 2:25:00; Dongying (China): 2016 – 1st 2:31:13; Dubai: 2016 – 12th 2:34:15; Rotterdam: 2017 – 2nd 2:24:17, 2023 – 1st 2:20:31; Beirut: 2017 – 1st 2:28:38; Beijing: 2018 – 2nd 2:26:56; Abu Dhabi: 2018 – 2nd 2:20:54, 2019 – 4th 2:26:43, 2021 – 2nd 2:26:01; World Military Games): 2019 – 1st 2:30:10, 2022 – 1st 2:34:09; Eldoret: 2021 – 7th 2:32:10; Milan: 2021 - 2nd 2:23:10; Seoul: 2022 – 3rd 2:20:02; Shanghai: 2023 –3rd 2:22:20; Nagoya: 2024 – 2nd 2:21:25, 2025 – 3rd 2:21:35, 2026 – DNF. 

Marathons in major championships: Olympics: 2021 – 7th 2:29:36, 2024 – 9th 2:26:10; World Championships: 2025 – 16th 2:32:22; Asian Games: 2022 – 1st 2:26:14 

Notes: Vastly experienced marathon runner who was born in Kenya but who has represented Bahrain since 2014. She has finished inside the top 10 at the past two Olympic Games and was the Asian marathon champion in 2022. She has been competing on the global marathon circuit since 2012 and is the Bahrain national record holder with her best of 2:20:02 set in Seoul in 2022. 

Born: 5 October 2002 

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon day: 23 years 6 months 21 days  

Marathon best: 2:20:34, Abu Dhabi 2024 

London Marathon record: N/A 

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors: N/A 

Other major city marathons: Abu Dhabi: 2024 – 1st 2:20:34, 2025 – 1st 2:21:17 

Notes: Amanang’ole is unbeaten over the marathon distance, with two races and two wins, both in Abu Dhabi (2024 and 2025). She also won a bronze medal in the half marathon at the 2023 World Road Running Championships in Riga. 

Born: 19 March 2005   

Age on race day: 21 years 1 month 7 days 

Marathon best: 2:21:59, Kosice 2025 

London Marathon record: N/A   

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors: N/A 

Other major city marathons: Kosice: 2025 – 1st 2:21:59; Hamburg: 2025 – 6th 2:27:05 

Marathons in major championships: N/A  

Notes: Aged just 20, Shumet ran 2:21:59 to win her debut marathon at the Kosice Peace Marathon in 2025.  

Born: 25 August 1992  

Age on race day: 33 years 8 months 1 day 

Marathon best: 2:23:21, Chicago 2023  

London Marathon record: 2016 – 43rd 2:55:41, 2018 – 60th 3:04:24, 2021 – 15th 2:29:45; 2022 – 10th 2:27:59, 2025 -  9th 2:25:01  

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors: Chicago: 2023 – 9th 2:23:21  

Other major city marathons: Seville: 2022 – 13th 2:27:20  

Marathons in major championships: World: 2022 – DNF; Olympics: 2024 – 78th 2:51:03  

Notes: Harvey’s rise to the top of British marathon running has been phenomenal. Starting out as a club runner with London club Clapham Chasers, she ran her first London Marathon in 2016 when she finished in 2:55:41. During the Covid-19 lockdown, Harvey was made redundant from her work as a lawyer and put all her attention into running. Since then she has become the sixth fastest Brit [check] of all time for the marathon with a 2:23:21 time set in Chicago in 2023 and represented Great Britain at a World Championships and Olympic Games. Her Olympic Games experience at the 2024 Paris Games was one she will always remember but more for the pain than the glory. Incredibly, she broke her leg during the marathon but showing immense courage and Olympic determination she fought to the Finish Line. She was ninth in the 2025 TCS London Marathon. 

Born: 30 October 1992 

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon race day: 33 years 5 months 27 days 

Marathon best: 2:24:18, Seville 2024 

London Marathon record: N/A 

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors: Chicago: 2025 – 8th 2:24:23 

Other major city marathons: Buenos Aires: 2021 – 1st 2:32:27; Seville: 2022 – 12th 2:26:54, 2024 – 7th 2:24:18 

Marathons in major championships: Pan American Games: 2023 – 2nd 2:27:29; Olympics: 2024 – 20th 2:29:29 

Notes: Borelli is the South American record holder for the marathon with her PB of 2:24:18 set in Seville in 2024. She is also the Argentinian record holder for 5,000m, 10,000m and half marathon and four South American Championship medals to her name including two golds. Her twin sister Mariana Borelli is also a professional runner. 

Born: 25 November 1990  

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon race day: 35 years 5 months 1 day 

Marathon best: 2025 London 8th - 2.24.25  

London Marathon record: 2025 8th - 2.24.25  

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors: None      

Marathons in major championships: None      

Notes: McColgan is one of Britain’s all-time great female distance runners. A four-time Olympian, McColgan is the British record holder for 10K (30:00), 15K (47:12) and 10 miles (50:43) and the second fastest of all time (behind Paula Radcliffe) for the half marathon (65:43). She had the moment of her career at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where she matched the achievement of her mum, Liz, in winning the 10,000m title and won a silver in the 5,000m as well. She also won two more medals in the 2022 European Championships – silver in the 10,000m and bronze in the 5,000m. McColgan made her marathon debut at the 2025 TCS London Marathon, where she set a new Scottish Record and was the first British women across the finish line, placing 8th  in a time of 2.24.25. Eilish is following in the footsteps of mum, Liz, who won the race in 1996 and was runner-up in 1997 and 1998.    

Born: 7 January 1995 (Age 31) 

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon race day: 31 years 3 months 19 days 

Marathon best: New York 2025 – 2.24.45  

London Marathon record: N/A  

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors: 2025 New York 7th  - 2.24.45  

Marathons in major championships: N/A  

Notes: Jessica Warner-Judd was a prodigiously talented junior athlete, winning medals in the 800m at both the World Youth Championships (2011) and World Junior Championships (2012). She has stepped up the distances in her senior career, from competing at the 2013 World Championships and 2014 Commonwealth Games over 800m as a teenager, moving up to 1500m and then, eventually, 5,000m and 10,000m. She competed at the Tokyo Olympics (2021) and World Championships in Oregon (2022) over both 5,000m and 10,000m and finished eighth in the 10,000m at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest. Her track career was thrown into uncertainty when she suffered from a seizure during the 10,000m final at the 2024 European Championships in Rome and after going through something similar again in the USA nearly a year later, she made the decision to switch to road racing in 2025. She won The Big Half and then made an impressive 26.2 mile debut at the 2025 New York Marathon where she came 7th in a time of 2.24.45, the ninth-fastest ever time ran by a female by a British athlete. Born in Essex, Jessica is no stranger to London having won the London Mini Marathon three years in a row from 2010 (age 15) to 2012 (age 17).  

Born: 28 September 1987 

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon race day: 38 years 6 months 29 days 

Marathon best: 2:25:50, Valencia 2023 

London Marathon record: N/A 

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors: N/A 

Other major city marathons: Valencia: 2021 – 30th 2:38:57; 2023 – 27th 2:25:50 

Marathons in major championships: N/A    

Notes: Ledhem has represented France at international level at the 2018 World Half Marathon Championships and the 2018 Mediterranean Games. She made a big break-through in the marathon in 2023 when she ran 2:25:50 in Valencia. 

Born: 5 October 1985 

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon race day: 40 years 6 months 21 days 

Marathon best: 2:26:14, Valencia 2022 

London Marathon record: N/A 

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors: Berlin: 2017 – 12th 2:34:16; Chicago: 2025 – 12th 2:28:24 

Other major city marathons: Rotterdam: 2019 – 8th 2:30:15; Seville: 2020 – 12th 2:29:02, 2022 – 14th 2:27:53; Valencia: 2020 – 13th 2:27:08, 2022 – 17th 2:26:14, 2023 – 41st 2:28:16; Madrid: 2023 – 3rd 2:37:47, 2025 – 9th 2:35:28 

Marathons in major championships: European Championships: 2018 – 24th 2:38:25, 2022 – 11th 2:31:14; World Championships: 2019 – 16th 2:47:45, 2023 – 38th 2:37:10; Olympics: 2021 – 37th2:35:39 

Notes: Vastly experienced Spanish international who has raced five major championship marathons in her career. She set her PB of 2:26:14 in Valencia in 2024. Based in Catalonia, she gave birth to a son Eric in 2024. 

Born: 2 December 1992    

Age on race day: 33 years 4 months 24 days 

Marathon best: 2:26:37, Malaga 2024 

London Marathon record: N/A   

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors: N/A 

Other major city marathons: Malaga: 2024 – 4th 2:26:37  

Marathons in major championships: N/A  

Notes: Tonbridge AC athlete Reid made a brilliant marathon debut in Malaga in December 2024 when she ran 2:26:37. She had a successful 2024 over the half marathon distance too, winning the Manchester Half Marathon (in a PB of 69:30) and placing third at The Big Half.  

Born: 29 September 1999 

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon race day: 26 years 6 months 27 days 

Marathon best: 2:27:09, McKirdy Mirco, Congers, New York. 

London Marathon record: N/A  

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors: N/A  

Marathons in major championships: World Championships: 2025 – 3rd 2:27:23 

Notes: Paternain was born in Mexico to Uruguayan parents and moved to the UK when she was two years old. She began her running career in England and joined local club Cambridge & Coleridge AC. She won back-to-back English Schools 3,000m titles in 2017 and 2018 and represented Great Britian at the 2019 European Under 23 Championships. She went to College in the USA where she is still based (training out of Flagstaff) and made her marathon debut at the McKirdy Micro Road To Tokyo Marathon where she ran a Uruguayan national record of 2:27:09 to seal a spot at the World Championships in Tokyo. She became one of the stories of the games in Tokyo when she ran an incredible, even-paced marathon to finish third (much to her own surprise) and collect Uruguay’s first ever medal at a World Championships. 2026 will be her debut in London but she is familiar with racing in the city, having finished second in the 2017 Mini London Marathon as an under-17 athlete and won the Vitality Westminster Mile in the same year.  

Born: 27 March 1992    

Age on race day: 34 years 0 months 30 days 

Marathon best: 2:27:51, Amsterdam 2025 

London Marathon record: 2019 – 2:39:51   

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors: Berlin: 2023 – 24th 2:30:54 

Other major city marathons: Frankfurt: 2022 – 11th 2:41:02, 2024 – 14th 2:29:33; Rotterdam: 2023 – 13th 2:32:04; Amsterdam: 2025 - 10th 2:27:51 

Marathons in major championships: N/A  

Notes: Small was a talented junior athlete, representing Great Britain on multiple occasions on the track and cross-country. A qualified teacher and athletics coach, Small has been chipping away at her marathon PB and dipped inside 2:30 for the first time in Frankfurt in 2024. She reduced that PB further at last year’s Amsterdam Marathon (2:27:51). 

Born: 4 June 1995 

Age on 2026 TCS London Marathon race day: 30 years 10 months 22 days 

Marathon best: 2:31:19, Valencia 2025 

London Marathon record: N/A 

Other Abbott World Marathon Majors: N/A 

Other major city marathons: Valencia: 2024 – 36th 2:34:20, 2025 – 28th 2:31:21; Copenhagen: 2025 – 7th 2:33:21 

Marathons in major championships: N/A 

Notes: Hopkins competes for Tonbridge AC and will make her London Marathon debut in 2025 after running a marathon PB in Valencia in December 2025 of 2:31:19. She has represented England over the half marathon distance.