2023 London Marathon Preview: Top Athletes, Storylines To Watch

If you’re still thinking about the Boston Marathon, you’re not alone. Those were epic races but next up on the World Marathon Majors schedule is the London Marathon, which is also set to be fantastic.

Coverage of the London Marathon will start at 3:30 a.m. ET on Sunday. The race will be broadcast on Flotrack with a subscription.

Let’s unpack all of the key storylines to watch…

Star-Studded Women’s Front Pack

Few things are certain in this life: death, taxes and the London Marathon assembling the strongest women’s marathon field of the spring. Five women will line up with personal bests under 2:18:00.

Kenya will be represented by world record holder Brigid Kosgei (2:14:04) and Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir (2:17:16), who opted for London instead of defending her title in Boston. Ethiopia is looking to go back-to-back for the first time in London Marathon history with defending champion Yalemzerf Yehualaw (who ran 2:17:26 for the win last October), Almaz Ayana (the former 10,000m world record holder with a 2:17:20 PB), Tigist Assefa (the 2022 Berlin Marathon champion, in 2:15:37) and Genzebe Dibaba (the 2016 Olympic 1,500m silver medalist, who debuted in the marathon in 2:18:05 at Amsterdam last year).

Let’s break it down and then add in a couple more names to watch later on in this preview…

The case for Brigid Kosgei

She’s won this race twice, and possibly would have made it thrice had she not withdrawn last fall due to a right hamstring injury. Her last marathon was a 2:16:02 for the win in Tokyo in March 2022, which was the third-fastest time in history but now sits at No. 6. So many women ran fast last fall, but we can’t overlook who is the fastest of all time.

The case for Tigist Assefa

I’m still wrapping my head around how the former 800m runner dropped her marathon personal best from 2:34:01 to 2:15:37 – which stood as the Ethiopian record until Amane Beriso ran 2:14:58 in December. (Beriso just finished second in Boston.)

The case for Peres Jepchirchir

If Jepchirchir pulls off the win, I think we need to start thinking of her as a potential candidate to win all the World Marathon Majors, since she’s already got Boston and New York (in some regards, the toughest ones – even Kipchoge is lacking them).

Before her injury-plagued 2022, I would have considered her the best women’s marathoner in the world. However, she withdrew from the World Championships due to a hip injury and then pulled out of New York City because she did not have enough time to recover from it. Unfortunately, we don’t have any tune-up races on her record to get a gauge for how fit she is right now. 

The case for Yalemzerf Yehualaw

In her two career marathons, Yehualaw has run 2:17:23 to win in Hamburg and then 2:17:26 to win in London. She opened up the year running 29:19 for 10K in Valencia to just miss her own world record by five seconds. Don’t forget, she fell at mile 20 of last year’s race and still got up to win. She is tough.

The case for Almaz Ayana and Genzebe Dibaba

Both women knocked their debuts out of the park in Amsterdam last fall. Before enjoying career resurgences last fall, both athletes struggled with injuries from 2018-2021. (Ayana also took a break to give birth to her first child in November 2020.) Now that they each have one marathon under their belt, we’ll see what they learned to try and go even faster this time around.

Eilish McColgan’s Debut Will Have To Wait

2022 was a marquee year for the Scottish star. McColgan won the Commonwealth Games 10,000m title, plus she nabbed a 5000m Commonwealth Games silver medal, the 10,000m European Championship silver medal, and the 5000m European Championship bronze medal. This year has also been off to a stellar start when McColgan is healthy, with British records set in the 10,000m (30:00.86 at Sound Running’s The Ten on March 4) and half marathon (65:43 at the Berlin Half on April 2).

But getting to the starting line has become something of a challenge for McColgan. She withdrew from the United NYC Half in March with bursitis in her knee, and last fall her scheduled debut at London was delayed due to fueling issues and lingering fatigue from the track season.

Earlier this week, McColgan announced that knee issues were once again bothering her, and this morning she announced that she would be withdrawing from the race. A shame for the Scottish star, but at 32 years old, she surely has many good years on the roads still to come.

Here’s her full statement from Friday afternoon: “Unfortunately, my knee hasn’t improved as much as I wanted it to. I was hopeful I could participate after some knee bursitis I had in February – I could run through that and I have tried to run through this but it has got to the point where it isn’t feasible to run a marathon. There have been a few factors that have come together like a bad storm in the past three weeks and the knee issue has been the final crack in the armor. I’m disappointed and know I’m ready to run a good marathon. That is what makes it hard to not be there on the start line. As an athlete, I wanted to compete, but I’m a firm believer these things happen for a reason. There will be another London Marathon in my future where, hopefully, I will be able to perform well.”

I’d also recommend reading her Instagram post for more details about her injury and a sponsorship clash that also presented a roadblock in the leadup to the race.

Sifan Hassan Debuts

Fortunately, we are going to get a debut of one track megastar. I’m excited to see what the reigning 5,000m and 10,000m Olympic champion can do over 26.2, in no small part because of one incredible soundbite. 

“I’m going to finish the distance or the distance is going to finish me,” she told Olympics.com.

She was on fire for the Tokyo Olympics but then took a long time to mentally recover from the Games and did not look like herself at all last year. She didn’t race until July 8th (just two weeks before the World Championships) and then finished sixth in the 5000m and fourth in the 10,000m.

Hassan’s personal best for the half marathon is 65:15 from September 2018 when she was training under coach Alberto Salazar. The time still holds up as the European record. 

More recently, don’t forget that in the leadup to the Tokyo Olympics, Hassan (now working with coach Tim RowBerry) ran a world record of 29:06:82 until it was broken by Letesenbet Gidey just two days later. Gidey ran 62:52 for the half marathon later that year while Hassan shut it down after the Diamond League final in September. So who knows what Hassan could’ve been in shape for the half marathon? But we do know that Gidey later ran 2:16:49 in her marathon debut. 

4 Of The 5 Fastest Men Ever Go Head-To-Head

This might be the strongest men’s marathon field ever assembled. You have four men who have broken 2:03:00 – including two men who have run under 2:02:00(!). 

Last year, Kelvin Kiptum shocked the world by debuting with a 2:01:53 at the Valencia Marathon. The 23-year-old has not raced since but after pouring over results in Boston, those who have run well in Valencia are for real. In Valencia, he beat Tanzania’s Gabriel Geay, who just finished second at the Boston Marathon.

When I asked Eliud Kipchoge whether he was worried about Kiptum possibly breaking his 2:01:09 world record, he said: “I am not worried at all… today someone else can break a world record, tomorrow I can break it.” Kipchoge also owns the London Marathon course record of 2:02:37, which could be under threat if it’s a fast race from the gun.

I wouldn’t be so quick to hand Kiptum the title despite that performance. The 2 Running Club, the training group in Kenya that features 2x Boston Marathon and 2022 New York City Marathon Champion Evans Chebet and Chicago Marathon champion Benson Kipruto, will be represented by defending champion Amos Kipruto. He won last year’s race in 2:04:39 and finished second at the 2022 Tokyo Marathon to Eliud Kipchoge in 2:03:13. This team doesn’t miss.

Other stars to watch include: Ethiopia’s Birhanu Legese (2:02:48 PB), Mosinet Geremew (2:02:55 PR), 2022 world champion Tamirat Tola (2:03:39 PB), and Geoffrey Kamworor (2:05:23 PR)

Mo Farah’s Final Marathon

It feels like Mo Farah isn’t getting the total storybook ending to his career that many envisioned a few years ago. The six-time world champion and four-time Olympic gold medalist never really panned out to be a major force on the marathon scene. His best performance was a victory and then-European record of 2:05:11. Since then, three European men have run faster in the last four years, leaving him holding only the British record. In 2019, he ran 2:05:39 to finish fifth at the London Marathon, which can be considered his last good race. 

When we take stock of athletes whose Olympic hopes were hindered by the pandemic, Farah is among them. He turned 37 in March 2020 before the Tokyo Olympics were postponed, which meant he’d only be getting older as he weighed the possibility of defending his 5000m and 10,000m titles from the Rio Olympics. 

He was not the same athlete in 2021. The man whose ten best 10,000m performances average out to 27:04 couldn’t hit the 27:28 qualifying mark, so he ended up watching the Tokyo Games from home. I thought he would retire after that but he was a headliner for last October’s London Marathon before withdrawing due to injury.

He’s still racing. He tuned up for this weekend with a 10K in Gabon, where he finished seventh in 30:41. He won’t be in contention for the victory but it’s a nice way to say farewell in front of thousands of people who supported him throughout his career. Savor the moment, Sir Mo.

Is This The End for Kenenisa Bekele Too? Probably not.

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Kenenisa Bekele hasn’t indicated that he’s planning on retiring soon. He turned 40 last year but still ran 2:05:53 to finish fifth at the London Marathon. (Good luck to anyone trying to take down that masters’ record!)

You just never know what kind of shape Bekele is going to show up in at a marathon starting line. Before the 2019 Berlin Marathon, there was buzz about how demotivated and out of shape he was going into it; he ended up running 2:01:41 for the second-fastest time in history.

I suspect the final years of Bekele’s career will resemble Tom Brady’s. With all his biggest accolades already earned, he may just keep picking up paychecks until he’s 45 and he isn’t coming close to winning anymore.

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🙏 Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez) and David Melly (@DavidMellyRuns)