London Marathon average and best finishing times ahead of 2023 race

23 April 2023 , 06:00

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London Marathon average and best finishing times ahead of 2023 race

The London Marathon returns to it's usual April date this year, with runners making their way around the 26.2-mile course on Sunday, April 23.

As with last year's October event, the 2023 marathon will feature more than 40,000 runners all looking to achieve different goals. The race will begin in South-East London and finish in the centre of the capital, not far from Buckingham Palace.

Many of those involved will be taking part for the first time, while others will be keen to improve on their time from their most recent marathon. Months of hard work and training have gone into it for thousands of starters, but not everyone will have the same target.

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There are familiar names involved in the men's and women's elite races, with reigning champions Amos Kipruto and Yalemzerf Yehualaw defending their titles. Mo Farah is also taking part, in what will be his final London Marathon.

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While the times posted by those elite runners are often in a different stratosphere to those put up by the majority of runners, there are still plenty of impressive times from those outside the elite category. Indeed, they weren't a million miles behind the elite winners.

The men's mass race was won by Tom Frith of Woodford Green Athletic Club. He finished in a time of two hours, 18 minutes and 35 seconds - just 14 minutes slower than World Championship bronze medalist Kipruto.

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Amos Kipruto won the men's elite race in 2022 (PA)

In the women's mass race, Hannah Alderson of Bristol and West AC was the fastest finisher. Her time of 2:35:56 was 18 minutes slower than Yehualaw, and the 179th fastest overall.

If you're wondering how those compare to the course records, those remain intact after 2022 Eliud Kipchoge holds the men's record with the 2:02:37 time in 2019, while Paula Radcliffe - a mainstay of long-distance running in the UK - set the best ever women's mark in 2003 as she finished in 2:15:25.

Many club runners will be targeting a time under three hours. In the 2022 race, that would have put you among the top 1,775 men or top 109 women in the mass race.

If you finish within four hours, meanwhile, that would place you among the top 9,667 men or the top 3,220 women. Most of those who finished in four hours or less took less than one hour and 55 minutes to reach the halfway point.

For some, of course, it's just about getting from start to finish. The slowest official finishing time in 2022 stood at 11:20:56, with a total of five runners taking more than 10 hours to make it all the way around.

Tom Victor