London Marathon considers revolutional change in women’s race for 2027

The organizers of the prestigious London Marathon are considering a major change to the format of the elite women’s race for 2027. The plans include allowing men and pacemakers alongside the leading female athletes, which could help achieve even faster times and possibly improve the world record.

The current top performance in mixed marathons belongs to Ruth Chepng’etich with a time of 2:09:56 from the Chicago Marathon in 2024. However, serious doubts remain about this result, as the Kenyan tested positive for doping five months later and was punished with a three-year ban from competing in 2025.

For her part, Tigst Assefa, who holds the world record for an all-female start (2:15:41 from London in 2026), was on course to break the mixed race record during this year’s Berlin Marathon. A serious injury – a ruptured Achilles tendon in the closing kilometres – forced her to slow down drastically, however, and she limped across the finish line in 2:11:04.

The dramatic scenes in Germany prompted London Marathon chief executive Hugh Brasher to consider a new approach that would give the runners, including Assefa, if she recovered in time, a chance to surpass Ruth Chepng’etich’s disputed record on the streets of the British capital.

“Will London continue to have a separate women’s record in the future? Yes, I think it’s important. But we’ve experimented in the past. When Paula Radcliffe ran her historic time, she was surrounded by men, although she herself would probably say they didn’t help her at all”, said Hugh Brasher.

Hugh Brasher, who has been a vocal advocate for a cleaner sport within the major marathon circuit since Peres Jepchirchir’s suspension, added:

“We are ready for change and we are actively engaging with the athletes about their goals. What happened to Tigst Assefa in Berlin was a real sporting tragedy because of the injury, but her performance was phenomenal. She was on course to break the record, the goal is entirely achievable. My personal opinion, also based on data from the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), is that the current world record is in serious doubt”.

In recent years, the elite women’s race in London has been run as a single start. This regulation usually makes the race more difficult due to the lack of a sufficiently dense group around the leaders.

In 2003, Paula Jane Radcliffe set a historic time of 2:15:25 in a mixed race. The marathon is currently consulting with the world’s leading female runners on their preferred format before the line-up and details of the race are officially announced in January.

“We are talking to the women and taking into account their aspirations – those discussions for 2027 are ongoing. We are still finalizing the contracts with the participants. When we announce the names in January, the public will see incredible competition for both men and women. It is often said that the London Marathon is harder to win than an Olympic or world title. All options are on the table and we are discussing a lot of ideas”, concluded Hugh Brasher.