London Marathon 2026 LIVE: Watch BBC coverage as Tigst Assefa sets women’s only record to defend title

Aimee Fuller
BBC Sport reporter on BBC Radio 5 Live

Image supply, PA Media

The London Marathon is gorgeous as a result of it’s for anybody. You begin small and also you construct up and you’re employed by the toughest a part of the yr in winter, when it’s darkish and wet and moist. It makes standing on that begin line, in April, even sweeter.

It is one thing we will measure and scale. It would not matter in case you’re doing it in sub-three hours, in case you’re an elite runner, in case you’re a newbie – it would not matter how lengthy it takes. That is what unites everybody. It is the facility of sport on that day.

It is an Olympics for all and provides us a way of mass participation. You are part of one thing that’s simply larger than you – it’s concerning the mass motion of individuals and it’s a wholesome place to be.