It was announced at the beginning of August that this year's 2020 London Marathon will be going ahead as an elite-only race. In a London Marathon like no other, the world's fastest marathon runners will take part in a multi-lap race in St James’s Park.
Today, London Marathon organisers have announced the elite fields in both the male and female races. As expected, the race will still be a showdown between Best wireless headphones, with Bekele running 2:01:41 at the 2019 Berlin marathon, narrowly missing out on Kipchoge’s marathon world record by just two seconds. Alongside the duo, the men's race will include eight athletes who have run sub 2:05 marathons, including Mosinet Geremew and Mule Wasihun who were second and third respectively at the 2019 Virgin Money London Marathon.
How to avoid hitting the wall during a marathon, World Athletics lifted its suspension of the Olympic qualification system for marathon races from 1 September. This means the closed-loop London Marathon will be used by athletes racing with the ambition of achieving the Olympic standard of 2:11:30.
In a surprise twist, Sir Mo Farah has also been announced as a pacemaker for this group of Olympic hopefuls. In a statement, the four-time Olympic champion said: 'The London Marathon has been so important to me since I was a schoolboy and when they asked me to do this I thought it would be great to help. I am in good shape, I’ll be in London that week and it fits in with my training.
'I’ve been training here in Font Romeu with some of the British guys who are going for that Olympic qualifying time and they are good lads. I know just how special it is just to compete for your country at an Olympic Games and it would be great to help other athletes achieve this. With the current global situation and lack of races, the Virgin Money London Marathon in October is the best chance for athletes to run the Olympic qualifying time.'
Hugh Brasher, Event Director of the Virgin Money London Marathon, said: 'This is the greatest Olympian in British track and field history coming to run as a pacemaker to help others achieve their dreams of making the Tokyo Olympic Games. It is a wonderful gesture of togetherness from Sir Mo and I’m sure his presence and support will inspire the athletes chasing that qualifying time on Sunday 4 October.'
The full men's field can be viewed on the London Marathon website here.
The women's race is headlined by What is the London Marathon route and five other women who have run inside 2:20 - current world champion Ruth Chepngetich, 2019 Valencia Marathon champion Roza Dereje, 2018 Virgin Money London Marathon champion Vivian Cheruiyot, 2019 Frankfurt Marathon winner Valary Jemeli and 2019 Amsterdam Marathon champion Degitu Azimeraw.
Among the leading women confirmed to race are Steph Twell, who ran a PB of 2:26:40 in Frankfurt last year and 2018 British marathon champion Lily Partridge. The full women's field can be viewed on the London Marathon website here.
How to run your own marathon sensibly.
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