List of winners of the London Marathon

Set over a largely flat course around the River Thames, the marathon is 26.2 miles (42.2 km) in length[2] and generally regarded as a competitive and unpredictable event, and conducive to fast times.

[4] The first Men's Elite Race was tied between American Dick Beardsley and Norwegian Inge Simonsen, who crossed the finish line holding hands in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 48 seconds.

[6] Twenty athletes representing the United Kingdom have won the London Marathon a total of forty times.

The most recent win by a British athlete was in the 2012 London Marathon, by David Weir in the Men's Wheelchair Race.

World records for marathon running have been set six times considering marks for men and women in mixed sex and women-only races.

Dick Beardsley shared the inaugural London Marathon title with Inge Simonsen .
2009 winner Samuel Wanjiru beat Martin Lel 's year-old course record by just five seconds.
Paula Radcliffe won the London Marathon three times in four years, setting the course record twice.
Joyce Chepchumba was the first non-European to win the women's competition.