Last weekend marked the 43rd annual London Marathon, a 26.2-mile race through London that is part of the World Marathon Majors series. Returning to its original spring date after three years, the race saw incredible performances across the board and people of all different abilities and backgrounds attempt the feat.
The winner of the men’s race, Kelvin Kiptum, crossed the line just 16 seconds outside of the world record at only 23 years old to mark the second-fastest London time ever.
Sifan Hassan took home the women’s gold in her debut marathon despite battling an injury, stopping twice and dodging bikes. Within what has been dubbed the greatest women’s field ever assembled, the Dutch Olympic track champion struggled with a hip injury but fought hard to keep her time low and wowed with a sprint finish across the line.
British legend Mo Farah raced his last marathon before retiring and was close to tears on his way round. Despite his disappointment with the time, this being the slowest marathon in his career, enormous crowds gathered to spur him to the finish line, and he finished in ninth overall. Although he is set to finish his career at the Great Northern Run in September, the London race was a glorious farewell.
Many familiar faces were captured on the track such as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, running in support of his brother, against cancer and raising money for the Royal Surrey Charity’s Cancer & Surgical Innovation Centre. Former BBC radio presenter Chris Evans was also spotted running his ninth London race.
Leading up to the race, fears of large protests and disruptions from eco mobs occurring during the race were discussed, especially considering the action at the snooker World Championships this past week. In anticipation, the MET police drafted extra officers. Ultimately, the race ran smoothly with the abnormal sights being the ice creams, dinosaurs, dominoes garlic herb dip and rhino gracing the track, among many more. The race raised an estimated £60million for charities across the UK, and despite classic turbulent UK weather the day was a roaring success.
Image Credit:JULIAN MASON//CC BY 2.0 via Flickr
