Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya breaks women's-only marathon record at London Marathon

21 April 2024, 11:26 | Updated: 21 April 2024, 13:18

Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya has broken the record for the women's-only marathon at the London Marathon.

Alexander Munyao won the men's London Marathon in a time of two hours four minutes.

British runner, Emile Cairess was third in the mens' event qualifying him for the Olympics.

A record 50,000 people took to the Capital's streets today for the 26.2 mile race.

Famous faces taking part include comedian and TV presenter Romesh Ranganathan, who is running for suicide prevention charity Campaign Against Living Miserably the day after starting his new Radio 2 Saturday morning show.

Fellow comedian Joel Dommett is running in the Piranha costume first worn by this year's Masked Singer winner, McFly's Danny Jones.

"Hardest Geezer" Russ Cook, who finished running the entire length of Africa on April 7, is running in support of the Running Charity.

Also among the runners are 20 MPs and peers, the most in the event's history, including Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

The elite and wheelchair races set off at staggered start times, with the wheelchair field starting at 9.05am.

The elite women's race starts at 9.25am, while the elite men take off at 10am.

Runners in the mass participation race - which includes members of the public and celebrities - start at 10am in waves until 11.30am.

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A 30 second round of applause took place before runners set off in memory of last year's elite men's winner - Kelvin Kiptum - who died in February.

The route will be the same as in recent years, starting at Blackheath and ending at The Mall.

Participants in the race get to see the capital's most popular areas including Big Ben, Tower Bridge and Buckingham Palace as they head to the finish line.

Switzerland's Marcel Hug won the men's wheelchair race for the fourth year in a row.

The 38-year-old crossed the line in one hour 28 minutes and 35 seconds for his fifth win.

American Daniel Romanchuk finished second with Briton David Weir, in his 25th consecutive appearance, third.

Catherine Debrunner, also of Switzerland, dominated the women's wheelchair race to win in 1:38:54.