All you need to know about the 2025 London Marathon and the runners from Newark and Sherwood
As the London Marathon returns today (April 27), runners from across the area are lacing up for a day of athletic determination, community spirit and fundraising.
Tens of thousands of people will visit the capital for the 2025 London Marathon, as it marks not only another year of running and achievements, but also its 45th event.
The 26.2-mile route starts in Greenwich Park and ends on The Mall, with runners crossing the finishing line just after passing Buckingham Palace.
Runners will run past some of the city’s most famous landmarks, including the Tower Bridge, the London Eye, Big Ben and Canary Wharf.
Eliud Kipchoge, who became the first athlete to run a marathon in under two hours in 2019, returns to the London Marathon for the first time since 2020. The record four-time winner is joined in the elite men's race by defending champion Munyao and Ethiopia's Olympic champion Tamirat Tola, but Kipchoge's long-time rival Kenenisa Bekele was a late withdrawal.
The elite women’s race features two of the three fastest women in history in Olympic champion Sifan Hassan and Paris 2024 silver medallist Tigst Assefa.
All four reigning Olympic and Paralympic marathon champions will be present, with Swiss athletes Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner contesting the elite wheelchair events.
Other famous faces who are set to take part in the event are fitness influencer Joe Wicks, singer Harry Judd, TV presenter Joel Dommett, and Olympic cyclist Sir Jason Kenny.
The race winners will receive £41,000, while a £112,000 bonus will be paid to any man running under 2:02:00 or woman under 2:15:00.
Among the thousands of participants and elite runners, several inspiring individuals from the Newark and Sherwood area are taking on the challenge, not only for personal achievement but to raise funds for charities close to their hearts.
Newark MP Robert Jenrick is running the marathon for the first time to support SSAFA the Armed Forces charity.
The charity also known as the Soldiers', Sailors', and Airmen's Families Association, has a particular focus on supporting veterans of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Mr Jenrick said: “Our veterans are the best of us, they’ve dedicated their lives to our country, and they deserve the best support.”
Meanwhile, Laura Coleman-Day, of Witham St Hughes, will be tackling the race in memory of her late husband, Xander Coleman-Day, who died following an acute lymphoblastic leukaemia diagnosis in 2022.
Laura, who will be running the final few miles of the marathon in her wedding dress, challenged herself to run 12 marathons in 12 months after Xander passed away.
She will finish her challenge with the London Marathon, raising funds for Anthony Nolan, a charity which secured a stem cell transplant.
“I just thought, what better way to honour Xander’s memory than to cross the line in my wedding dress,” Laura added.
“I do think he’s been with me at every marathon, and I know that he will be there for me at London.”
Also making her marathon debut is Kate Hyland, of Fernwood, who described the past year as a "roller coaster" for her and her family.
She will be raising funds for Kidney Care UK, to support people like her husband Lee, who has end-stage kidney disease.
Following a roller coaster year of kidney failure and a rare disease, said she is looking forward to the challenge and to supporting a charity that helps people like her husband.
Joining them on the start line will be the group of five friends from Newark — Simon Adshead, Bob Briggs-Price, Garry Fell, Steven Clewer, and Sam Ward.
The friends are running in support of the Motor Neurone Disease Association, a charity that funds research, improves care and provides support for people with Motor Neurone Disease, as well as their families and carers.
For the friends, it is personal with people they know affected by the disease, which limits mobility and speech, and for which there is currently no cure.
Sophie Dallison of Newark will be running the marathon today to raise funds for Children with Cancer UK and wishes to raise £3,000.
She only found out that she had received a marathon place in December, three months after most other entrees had received theirs, but she said she is ready to take on the challenge, despite confessing not to be a runner.
Coverage of the event will be on BBC One from 8.30am to 2pm, and on BBC Two from 2pm to 3pm. There are also live streams from Tower Bridge and the finish line on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport app. The elite wheelchair field is on at 9.05am, women’s race at 9.25am and men’s race at 10am.
The ballot for the 2025 TCS London Marathon opened on Friday (April 25) and closes on Friday, May 2.
Marathon Day next year is Sunday, April 26, 2026.
The Newark Advertiser team wishes good luck to all runners and special good luck to the ones from our area.
