2014 London Marathon - Complete Coverage

Photo Credit: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun Wilson Continues Winning Ways

The London Marathon is the richest marathon in the world and is arguably more committed to its elite field than any other marathon in the country. Of course when the long-time race director is a past world record holder at 10,000m, it makes sense that he cares about the elite field and enjoys the prospect of trying to set new records at his own event. Admittedly the race director we refer to, David Bedford, has stepped down from his leadership role in the marathon as of 2012/2013, but he remains involved in recruiting the elite field and that spirit and tradition remains.

How did it all play out? Read the full stories:
The Men's Race
The Women's Race

The Elite Race Post-Race Writeups The Men's Race: In 2012 and 2013 the men went out faster than world record pace and faded, but for 2014 the runners took a more conservative approach and fared better. We were excited to see a 41-year old Haile Gebrselassie act as pacemaker for the first 12 miles - taking the field through the first mile in 4:36 (so fast!), but ultimately the pace returned to sanity... Eight men ran through the half marathon in 1:02:30 - too slow for a world record, but in striking distance of the course record. Among those men were names we would expect: world record holder Wilson Kipsang, fastest-ever marathoner Geoffrey Mutai, course record-holder Emmanuel Mutai and defending champion Tsegaye Kebede, among others. Running a strong pace, Wilson Kipsang proved strongest to run to a course record 2:04:29 as Stanley Biwott followed close behind to also finish sub-2:05. For the Brits, the other big story was the debut marathon for the 2012 5000m and 10000m Olympic Champion, Mo Farah. Farah had set a number of goals for himself, the least agressive of which was to better the previous British record of 2:07:13 set by Steve Jones in Chicago in 1985. Running smartly behind the lead pack, Farah was on pace for the record but succumbed to the difficulty of the distance to end in a respectable 2:08:21 for his debut marathon. Read the full story: The Men's Race The Women's Race: London seems to always want some women to run sub-2:20 and often runs its competitors into the ground in search of that goal. The 2014 race did not see the slowing that we've seen in other years, but the women were not able to keep the sub-2:19 starting pace after their pacers left the race. Four women ran through the halfway point in 1:09:15 (X2 = 2:18:30 expected). Defending champion Priscah Jeptoo was the only one of the four to drop out - as the other three Kenyans ran well to the finish. Edna Kiplagat, the reigning marathon world champion, proved strongest to win in 2:20:21, outkicking Florence Kiplagat who finished in 2:20:24. Juat a bit behind the Kiplagats was Tirunesh Dibaba in her debut marathon and a finish time of 2:20:35. Read the full story: The Women's Race We wrote the articles below pre-race, but they're still interesting to put it all in perspective... Race Preview The Fields/The Preview The men's race features some of the fastest in the world and 8 of the top 10 of the previous London Marathon field, the three Olympic medalists and the fastest man to ever run a marathon - all vying to prove they are the best. The women's field holds four women who have run sub-2:20 and a couple more who have come close. Only once have two women run better than 2:20 in the same women's-only marathon. Could we see that or better at London? We're sure they'll be going for it. Get Race Insight, a detailed starter list with accomplishments and More: Read the Marathon Preview / Starter Lists Previous Head-To-Head Performances/Meetings Many of the elite athletes at the 2014 London Marathon have faced off at other marathons. Take a look at our head-to-head display of all of the past meetings of these runners - you can learn a lot about these athletes by seeing how they've performed against each other in the past. Previous Elite Head-To-Head Performances

Video Features Want to know what the London Marathon experience is like? From the elite race to the commoners race, we've compiled video footage that will help: athlete interviews, recaps of past races, inspirational stories, historical footage, and more... Athletes Interviews Race History Course Inspiration    What Others Are Writing... We're not the only ones who love this race, and we're not the only one covering it, but we hand-deliver links to press releases and news articles not written by the MarathonGuide.com staff, just for you. London Marathon Press Releases London Marathon News    Past Years... MarathonGuide.com has been covering the London Marathon since 2007. Our past coverage can tell you what has been the past strategy and from history we can learn about the future... London Marathon 2013 London Marathon 2012 London Marathon 2011 London Marathon 2010 London Marathon 2009 London Marathon 2008 London Marathon 2007