Why would anyone willingly choose to run 26.2 miles as fast as they can? 56,000 people were likely asking themselves just that – in somewhat coarser terms, probably – last Sunday in London. But the startling fact about the London Marathon is that if all 56,000 of those people had decided to drop out, there would be 784,318 others ready to step up and take their place. That’s how popular the 45th edition of the marathon is. The figures are mind boggling – the applications for this year’s race broke a world-record, and were far beyond applications for last year’s (578,304), which themselves were a record. Could it reach over a million for 2026?
It's not just on Marathon day either – runners are everywhere in the capital. Here’s a London challenge: can you go through a day in the city without spotting a single person running? Somehow I doubt it. Bloody runners – they are just that ubiquitous. And I say that as one myself.
