Numbers to remember for the London Marathon

With the London Marathon only a few days away, there are multiple stories developing. We’ve highlighted a few numbers to watch for when the race gets started.

2:03:23 – Men’s world record

There aren’t a lot of races where a world record is a realistic possibility, but many years the London marathon, known for putting together elite fields that verge on unbelievable, is an event that could see one.The course is flat and the top seeds go in with the intention of chasing records. This year won’t be any different.

Wilson Kipsang, the reigning world record holder, and Geoffrey Mutai, who ran the fastest marathon ever on a course that isn’t record-eligible at the 2011 Boston Marathon, are both racing, alongside some others who could well challenge up front.

The lead group plan to have their pacers go through the halfway mark in 61:45, almost dead on world record pace for these guys. There are supposedly six athletes who plan to run at this pace, with Mo Farah not among them. Only Haile Gebreselassie, who will help pace, has ever run under 2:04 without running sub-62:00 through that half. He ran 2:03:59 splitting 62:05.

Don’t get your hopes up, but a world record performance hasn’t been completely removed from the deck.

2:04:40 – London men’s course record

London’s course record of 2:04:40 is also in danger of being broken. The course record holder, Emmanuel Mutai, is racing and will be interested in regaining his title from the 2011 race when he set the record.

There are six athletes in the field who have run faster than the course record, and are likely the alleged six going out with the lead pacers.

2:10:09 – Canadian men’s record

Jerome Drayton’s 1975 national marathon record has stood the test of time, but there are always a few elite Canadians looking to take it down.

Reid Coolsaet will be in the hunt for a sub-2:10 performance to break the record. He holds a PB of 2:10:55 from 2011.

2:20:00

Not a record, but a standard used to separated the very top-level elites from the rest in women’s elite marathon running. Only a handful of women will break this barrier during a strong year. Some years no one will.

In 2013, only one woman in the world dipped under 2:20 and she’s not racing in London, but there are three women racing who have done it during their careers.

As recently as 2001, no woman had run sub-2:20.

2:15:25 – Women’s world record and course record

The world record, set by Paula Radcliffe in 2003 at the London Marathon, has almost zero chance of being threatened. At nearly three minutes faster than any other female has ever run, the time is one of the most impressive records in sport. Still, it’s worth noting that these are some of the best runners in the world and then record was set on this course.