London Marathon 2025 Results: Winners, Times and Records

The 2025 TCS London Marathon, held on Sunday 27 April 2025, became the biggest marathon in history, with 56,640 runners crossing the finish line on The Mall. The 45th edition of the race delivered a women-only world record from Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa, a first London title for Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe, and continued Swiss dominance in the wheelchair divisions through Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner. This guide sets out the full elite leaderboards, the wheelchair times, the British and New Zealand performances, and the record-breaking participation figures — all checked against official results — so you can see exactly who won, in what time, and why the 2025 race mattered.

Who won the 2025 London Marathon?

Four champions were crowned across the elite and wheelchair races. Sabastian Sawe won the men’s elite race in 2:02:27, and Tigst Assefa won the women’s elite race in 2:15:50, setting a women-only world record. In the wheelchair races, Marcel Hug took the men’s title in 1:25:25 and Catherine Debrunner won the women’s race in a course-record 1:34:18. The table below summarises the day’s winners; the sections that follow break down each race in detail.

Elite men’s results and standings

Sabastian Sawe won the men’s elite race in 2:02:27, the fifth-fastest time in London Marathon history at that point. Racing over the classic marathon distance for only the second time, Sawe broke clear of a strong lead group with around 10 kilometres remaining and was never seriously challenged. Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, the half-marathon world-record holder, took second on his marathon debut in 2:03:37, while defending champion Alexander Mutiso Munyao edged Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands for third, both credited with 2:04:20. Four-time winner and marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge finished sixth in 2:05:25. The depth was remarkable: six men finished inside 2:05, and Kiplimo’s 2:03:37 stands as one of the fastest marathon debuts in history, arriving just weeks after he broke the half-marathon world record.

How Sabastian Sawe won the race

Sawe’s victory was built on patience through the first half. By sitting inside the lead pack over the technical turns around Canary Wharf and the Isle of Dogs, he conserved energy for a decisive surge after 30 kilometres that none of his rivals could answer. The move stretched the field along the Embankment and turned the closing miles into a solo run toward Buckingham Palace and the finish on The Mall. Sawe’s time also confirmed the shift in the men’s marathon toward sub-2:03 winning performances at the biggest city races, a standard that would have been almost unthinkable a decade earlier. Understanding pacing like this is central to the sport — our explainer on how long a marathon is covers why the 42.195 km distance rewards even effort over early aggression.

Elite women’s results and the women-only world record

Tigst Assefa won the women’s elite race in 2:15:50, setting a women-only marathon world record. A women-only record is the fastest time run in a race without male pacemakers, so it is recognised separately from the outright women’s world record set in mixed-sex fields. Assefa’s time improved the previous women-only best of 2:16:16, set by Peres Jepchirchir at the 2024 London Marathon, meaning the record was lowered on the same course in successive years. Racing aggressively from early on, Assefa gradually wore down her rivals over the second half to finish more than two and a half minutes clear.

The duel with Joyciline Jepkosgei

Joyciline Jepkosgei tracked Assefa through the middle of the race before the Ethiopian pulled away in the closing stages to take second in 2:18:44. Behind them, versatile Dutch star Sifan Hassan — the 2024 Olympic marathon champion — took third in 2:19:00; you can read more about her career on Wikipedia. The depth of the field was striking, with the top six all inside 2:23 and eleven women under 2:30. Assefa’s run confirmed her standing as one of the finest marathoners of her generation, having already set the outright women’s world record at Berlin in 2023 before the mark was later lowered by others; her London performance showed she could deliver record-level times even in the tactically demanding conditions of a women-only elite field, where there are no male pacers to shelter behind or chase.

Wheelchair race results

Switzerland dominated both wheelchair races. Marcel Hug, nicknamed the “Silver Bullet,” won the men’s race in 1:25:25 for his seventh London Marathon title, moving one win closer to Britain’s David Weir’s record of eight. Japan’s Tomoki Suzuki took second in 1:26:09 and the Netherlands’ Jetze Plat was third in 1:26:49. In the women’s race, Catherine Debrunner set a course record of 1:34:18 to win her third London title, finishing well clear of American Susannah Scaroni (1:38:08) and Swiss compatriot Manuela Schär (1:41:06).

Debrunner’s record-breaking run

Debrunner controlled the women’s wheelchair race from the front, using the fast, gently descending opening kilometres out of Greenwich to build a lead that was never threatened. Her 1:34:18 lowered the course record and added valuable points to her Abbott World Marathon Majors series standing. Home favourite David Weir, an eight-time champion, was the leading British athlete in the men’s wheelchair race with a time of 1:34:06. Both Hug and Debrunner used London as a key round of the Abbott World Marathon Majors wheelchair series, in which consistent podium finishes across the year’s biggest races decide the overall champions — so the London result carried weight well beyond the day itself.

British elite performances

The 2025 race was a strong day for British distance running. Mahamed Mahamed was the fastest British man, finishing ninth overall in 2:08:52. In the women’s race, Eilish McColgan made an impressive marathon debut, finishing eighth in 2:24:25 after a season disrupted by injury, while Rose Harvey was the next Briton home in 2:25:01. These times underline the growing depth in British marathoning ahead of upcoming global championships and reflect a wider surge in participation similar to the one behind New Zealand’s own scene, tracked in our New Zealand running calendar.

A record-breaking field: the Guinness World Record for finishers

The 2025 London Marathon set a Guinness World Record for the largest number of finishers in a marathon, with 56,640 runners completing the course. That figure surpassed the previous record of 55,646, set at the TCS New York City Marathon in November 2024. Demand for places was also unprecedented: a then-record 840,318 people entered the public ballot for the 2025 race, roughly 45 per cent more than the 578,304 applications for 2024.

How London became the world’s largest marathon

Handling nearly 57,000 finishers took a major logistical effort from London Marathon Events, including additional start waves at Blackheath and improved crowd management on The Mall. The scale places London firmly among the elite of global city marathons; runners who enjoy comparing the world’s biggest races can see how the newest Abbott World Marathon Major measured up in our guide to the Sydney Marathon 2025.

New Zealand runners at the 2025 London Marathon

New Zealand was well represented among the international field, which spanned participants from more than 100 nations. Every year a steady contingent of Kiwi club runners, charity fundraisers and first-timers travel to London to tick off one of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, and 2025 was no exception. The London Marathon does not publish a public country-by-country finisher breakdown, so exact New Zealand numbers are not officially confirmed; runners can look up their own result — and any friend’s — through the official TCS London Marathon results portal by searching a name or bib number. Many Kiwi runners reach London through the international ballot, through official overseas charity partners, or via a Good For Age or championship-standard qualifying time earned at a domestic race. Because New Zealand’s marathon season runs through autumn and winter — the opposite of the northern-hemisphere calendar — runners typically use events such as the Christchurch, Wellington or Auckland marathons as their long build-up before travelling north in April. For those planning a domestic build-up before an overseas major, the Auckland Marathon guide is a useful starting point.

Guinness World Record attempts on the course

Beyond the finisher record, the 2025 event was a hotbed of individual record-setting. Guinness World Records confirmed that 41 record titles were broken from 87 attempts during the race. These included costumed and category records such as the fastest marathon dressed as a mascot and fast times in specific disability classifications. The London Marathon also holds the Guinness World Record as the largest annual single-day charity fundraising event, and has generated more than £1.3 billion for good causes since its first running in 1981 — a large share of which comes from the tens of thousands of charity runners in the mass-participation field.

What the 2025 results mean for 2026 and beyond

The 2025 records did not stand still for long. Interest in the event continued to climb, and the 46th edition — held on Sunday 26 April 2026 — attracted a new ballot world record of 1,133,813 applications, comfortably beating the 840,318 set in 2025. The women-only world record and the finisher record established in 2025 became the benchmarks that the wider running world measured itself against, and the strength of the elite fields signalled that sub-2:02 men’s times and sub-2:16 women’s times are now the standard at the front of a major city marathon. For a fuller look at entry, the course and race-day logistics, see our complete London Marathon guide.

Common mistakes when interpreting the 2025 results

Marathon results are easy to misread, and a few errors come up repeatedly with the 2025 figures. Keeping these straight helps you compare performances fairly.

• Confusing the women-only record with the outright women’s world record. Assefa’s 2:15:50 is a women-only record, run without male pacers; the mixed-field women’s world record is faster and separate.
• Treating the finisher record as “the most people to ever start a marathon.” The 56,640 figure counts official finishers, not entrants or starters, which is why it is directly comparable to New York’s previous 55,646.
• Assuming Sawe’s winning time was a course or world record. It was a fast, elite-level winning time but not a record; the men’s London course record remained quicker.
• Reading the ballot numbers as available places. The 840,318 applications were for a field of tens of thousands of ballot places, so the vast majority of applicants were unsuccessful.
• Mixing up wheelchair and elite times. Wheelchair athletes cover the same 42.195 km far faster than runners, so their times should only be compared within their own divisions.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Who won the London Marathon 2025?

Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in 2:02:27, and Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia won the women’s elite race in 2:15:50. Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner, both of Switzerland, won the men’s and women’s wheelchair races.

What was Tigst Assefa’s world-record time?

Assefa ran 2:15:50, a women-only marathon world record. That improved on the previous women-only best of 2:16:16, set by Peres Jepchirchir at the 2024 London Marathon on the same course.

How many people finished the 2025 London Marathon?

A world-record 56,640 runners finished the 2025 London Marathon, making it the largest marathon in history. The figure surpassed the previous record of 55,646 set at the 2024 New York City Marathon.

What were the wheelchair results in 2025?

Marcel Hug won the men’s wheelchair race in 1:25:25 for his seventh London title, and Catherine Debrunner won the women’s race in a course-record 1:34:18. Tomoki Suzuki and Susannah Scaroni were the respective runners-up.

Where can I find my personal London Marathon result?

Individual results are available through the official TCS London Marathon results portal, where you can search by runner name or bib number. Results typically stay online after the event so participants and spectators can look up times and splits.