2014 London Marathon Preview

2014 London Marathon Preview

On this page: Overview | Men's Race | Women's Race | Full Starter List / Performances at London

photo credit: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun Kebede Looks for a 3rd Career London Marathon Win

The London Marathon has, inarguably, the largest budget in the world and the largest budget for elite athletes. The prize money for top placements amounts to just over $300,000 - but add on top of that generous time bonuses and many, many undisclosed private bonus deals and appearance money with individual athletes and the number of millions of dollars spent on athletes is staggering.

Because of its commitment to paying athletes; because of its flat/fast course; because of its use of pacers to ensure the race starts at a fast pace; and because of its insistence and use of time bonuses for much of its prize money - the London Marathon ALWAYS has the deepest field in marathoning and provides great results and drams for its race. And the 2014 race will be no exception - and may be best field and race ever imagined. [Editor's note: because of the nature of the London Marathon, we've kept this paragraph intact from 2013!]

The Men's Race
The 2014 London Marathon boasts a field containing seven of the top twenty marathoners of all time, including three who have run sub-2:04 and an additional four who have run sub-2:05 - not including the guest pacemaker, Haile Gebrselassie, the first man to ever break 2:04. In the field are the world record holder in the marathon (Wilson Kipsang, 2:03:23), the man who has run the fastest marathon ever (Geoffrey Mutai, 2:03:02 on a non-record eligible course), the fourth fastest marathoner ever (Emmanuel Mutai, 2:03:52). The winners of the previous four London Marathons (Tsegaye Kebede, Wilson Kipsang, Emmanuel Mutai, Kebede) return; as well as the top the six finishers from the 2013 London Marathon and the reigning Olympic Champion, Stephen kiprotich. As alwaya, the field is stacked. And while the favorites must be Wilson Kipsang, Emmanuel Mutai, Geoffrey Mutai and Tsegaye Kebede. But with this field, any three or four others could win or sneak into the top three or five...

For the British, there will be a different race taking place. Arguably the most successful male British runner of all time will be making his debut at the marathon. Mo Farah captured the love of all British running fans as he won the 5000m and 10000m Gold Medals at the 2012 London Olympics. And Farah will be trying the marathon for the first time ever - and for a runner of this calibre there is no limit to the expectations. Well... few would expect Farah to win the marathon in his first outing, but many - including Farah himself - are expecting him to beat one or another record: the 2:06:36 European marathon record (Antonio Pinto, 2000), the UK marathon record of 2:07:13 (Steve Jones, 1985) or at least the best time for a Brit at London of 2:08:16 (Steve Jones, 1985). Can Farah live up to these expectations...in his debut marathon? We will see, and as many will be watching this as caring about the overall winner!

The Women's Race
The London Marathon has brought together a great slate of women - but five stand out ahead of the others. Four of these women are experienced marathoners: Priscah Jeptoo (defending champion), Edna Kiplagat (reigning Marathon World Champion) and Tiki Gelana (2012 Olympic Champion). The fifth stand out will be running her debut marathon, but has credentials at the 10000m that ensure she can compete: Tirunesh Dibaba has won the 10000m world title three times on the track and three Olympic Gold medals at the 10000m and 5000m, among other credentials.

Priscah Jeptoo and Edna Kiplagat have raced each other at the marathon distance a number of times - and split the wins between them. The edge goes to Kiplagat, but they are relatively evenly matched. Tiki Gelana bettered both Jeptoo and Kiplagat at the 2012 Olympics and knows how to compete. Florence Kiplagat has not had the success of her competitors, but has the times necessary to compete and has gained confidence after winning the 2013 Berlin Marathon.

As we've written elsewhere, we'll expect the pacers to take this group of women out at better than 2:20 marathon pace - and unlike in some other years, one or more of these women should be able to survive that starting pace. We shall see.

Elite Lineup:

Men's Field

Name	Country	Bib	Personal Best	London History
Tsegaye Kebede (27)	ETH	1	2:04:38, Chicago, 2012	History
Wilson Kipsang (32)	KEN	2	2:03:23, Berlin, 2013	History
Emmanuel Mutai (29)	KEN	3	2:03:52, Chicago, 2013	History
Geoffrey Mutai (32)	KEN	4	2:03:02, Boston, 2011	History
Ayele Abshero (23)	ETH	5	2:04:23, Dubai, 2012	History
Tsegaye Mekonnen (18)	ETH	6	2:04:32, Dubai, 2014	History
Feyisa Lilesa (24)	ETH	7	2:04:52, Chicago, 2012	History
Stanley Biwott (27)	KEN	8	2:05:12, Paris, 2012	History
Marilson dos Santos (36)	BRA	9	2:06:34, London, 2011	History
Martin Mathathi (28)	KEN	10	2:07:16, Fukuoka, 2013	History
Stephen Kiprotich (24)	UGA	11	2:07:20, Enschede, 2011	History
Samuel Tsegay (25)	ERI	12	2:07:28, Amsterdam, 2011	History
Amanuel Mesel (23)	ERI	14	2:08:17, Valencia, 2013	History
Paulo Roberto Paula (34)	BRA	15	2:10:23, Padova, 2012	History
Scott Overall (31)	GBR	16	2:22:37, London Olympics, 2012	History
Reid Coolsaet (34)	CAN	17	2:10:55, Toronto Waterfront, 2011	History
Ryan Vail (28)	USA	18	2:12:43, 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Men's Marathon, 2012	History
Pedro Nimo (33)	ESP	19	2:12:10, Wien 2009	History
Rui Pedro Silva (32)	POR	20	2:12:15, Wien 2012	History
Craig Hopkins (25)	GBR	24	2:16:51, Sacramento, 2013	History
Yared Hagos (33)	ETH	25	2:19:32, Brighton, 2012	History
Mo Farah (31)	GBR	26	Debut	History
Ibrahim Jeilan (24)	ETH	27	Debut	History
Chris Thompson (32)	GBR	28	Debut	History
Ben Livesey (35)	GBR	29	Debut	History
Mustapha El Aziz	MAR		2:07:55, Seoul, 2013	History

Women's Field

Name	Country	Bib	Personal Best	London History
Priscah Jeptoo (29)	KEN	101	2:20:14, London, 2012	History
Tiki Gelana (26)	ETH	102	2:18:58, Rotterdam, 2012	History
Florence Kiplagat (27)	KEN	103	2:19:44, Berlin, 2011	History
Edna Kiplagat (34)	KEN	104	2:19:50, London, 2012	History
Aberu Kebede (24)	ETH	105	2:20:30, Berlin, 2012	History
Feysa Tadesse (25)	ETH	106	2:21:06, Paris, 2013	History
Tetyana Hamera-Shmyrko (30)	UKR	107	2:23:58, Berlin, 2010	History
Jessica Augusto (32)	POR	108	2:24:33, Eindhoven, 2011	History
Kim Smith (32)	NZL	109	2:25:21, London, 2010	History
Ana Dulce Félix (31)	POR	110	2:25:40, New York City, 2011	History
Nadia Ejjafini (36)	ITA	111	2:26:15, Boston, 2011	History
Diane Nukuri-Johnson (29)	BDI	112	2:29:54, Nagoya, 2010	History
Amy Whitehead (35)	GBR	113	2:33:44, London, 2012	History
Emma Stepto (44)	GBR	114	2:35:05, Amsterdam 2013	History
Tirunesh Dibaba (28)	ETH	115	Debut	History
Gemma Steel (28)	GBR	116	Debut	History
Lyudmila Konavalenko	UKR	117	Debut	History
Yuko Shimizu (28)	JPN	118	Debut	History