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- The London Marathon, one of the five World Marathon Majors, has been contested by men and women annually since 29 March 1981. Set over a largely flat course around the River Thames, the marathon is {{convert26.2mikmsigfig=3 in length and generally regarded as a competitive and unpredictable event, and conducive to fast times. The inaugural marathon had 7,741 entrants, 6,255 of whom completed the race. The first Men's Elite Race was tie (draw)tied between American Dick Beardsley and Norwegian Inge Simonsen, who crossed the holding hands in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 48 seconds. The first Women's Elite Race was won by Briton Joyce Smith in 2:29:57. In 1983, the first Wheelchair racingwheelchair races took place. Organized by the English Federation of Disability SportBritish Sports Association for the Disabled (BASD), 19 people competed and 17 finished. Gordon Perry (athlete)Gordon Perry of the United Kingdom won the Men's Wheelchair Race, coming in at 3:20:07, and Denise Smith (athlete)Denise Smith, also of the UK, won the Women's Wheelchair Race in 4:29:03. The most recent London Marathon, held on 26 April 2009, had 35,859 entrants, 35,268 of whom completed the race. Kenyan Samuel Wanjiru won the Men's Elite Race in 2:05:10. In the Women's Elite Race, German Irina Mikitenko earned her second consecutive victory, completing the course in 2:22:11. Australian Kurt Fearnley won the Men's Wheelchair Race in 1:28:57. American Amanda McGrory was the fastest in the Women's Wheelchair Race, setting a time of 1:50:39. The next London Marathon will be held on 25 April 2010. Twenty athletes representing the United Kingdom have won the London Marathon a total of thirty-nine times. The most recent win by a British athlete was in the 2008 London Marathon, by David Weir (paralympic athlete)David Weir in the Men's Wheelchair Race. It was his fourth win in London. Kenya has the second largest number of winning athletes. Five Kenyan men and three Kenyan women have been victorious a total of eleven times, although no Kenyan has won a wheelchair race. Nine men, including those from the wheelchair races, have won the marathon more than once; Weir and David Holding have won it four times each. Fourteen women have been winners more than once; Tanni Grey-Thompson won the women's wheelchair race six times between 1992 and 2002. Course records for the London Marathon have been set eight times in the men's race, eight times in the women's race, fifteen times in the men's wheelchair race, and eleven times in the women's wheelchair race. Marathon world record progressionWorld records for marathon running have been set four times. Khalid Khannouchi, representing the United States, set the men's world record in 2:05:38 in 2002. The following year, British runner Paula Radcliffe set the women's world record in 2:15:25, which also stands as the current course record in the Women's Elite Race. Wanjiru set the course record at 2:05:10 in 2009 in the Men's Elite Race. That same year, Fearnley set the Men's Wheelchair Race course record at 1:28:57. The course record for the Women's Wheelchair Race was set by Swiss athlete Sandra Graf in 2008, with 1:48:04.
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- The London Marathon, one of the five World Marathon Majors, has been contested by men and women annually since 29 March 1981. Set over a largely flat course around the River Thames, the marathon is {{convert26.2mikmsigfig=3 in length and generally regarded as a competitive and unpredictable event, and conducive to fast times. The inaugural marathon had 7,741 entrants, 6,255 of whom completed the race.
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