Race and Course Review: London Marathon
- Apr 7
- 6 min read
What is the London Marathon race like? What is the London Marathon course like?
From racing twice, with the view as a debut too when I raced it in 2017 (2:53) and in 2019 (2:37:30)
General
Over recent years the London Marathon has gone from very popular to a entirely new level.
Over 1 million people now regularly apply for around 40,000 coveted places.
Fast(ish) course
The best public support for a marathon (imho and I haven't done New York)
Temperature can vary
Fantastic city views
Iconic finish line!
Official site:
Climate
The climate varies at London, as spring starts it can find itself being perfect, that sort of range that is around 7 in the early morning rising to 12. It has been quite hot on a couple of recent occasions nearing 20 degrees, it can rain too (of course, it's the UK!). Nothing to a degree that should affect your best attempt because London is a fast enough course for PB efforts, so long as you prepare mentally and physically for such an occasion that the weather is not ideal.
The Start
The course goes from East to West of London. The start is in a relatively quiet place (on a typical day) out in Blackheath. A sprawling park.
There are actually three different starts arranged by colour Red, Blue and Green so important tip is to make sure you have studied exactly where you need to go beforehand and not be surprised. They are not insanely far away but you wouldn't want to have a high panic situation and run a few miles already to get to somewhere else.
Red start is typically for charity/general runners (Blackheath), Blue start is for elite/championship and some general, and I believe the Green start is often for later waves. Each has a specific, recommended arrival station (e.g., Blackheath, Greenwich, Maze Hill).
At the BLUE start straight away you are running for a very short distance downhill that turns your legs quickly and makes the start fast. This goes flat quite quickly but in general the start is fast because at approximately 4km you come to a downhill of around 1.5-2km. This isn't steep so don't worry about slamming your legs and joints early on BUT given the adrenaline you will have being near the start and feeling AMAZING, take the hill slightly quicker than your target pace but don't kid yourself once you finish the hill that it's now the pace you want to stay at. The end of the downhill is a sweeping left turn and is also the point that the routes merge.
I understand the RED start is very similar, running in parallel.
Once you make that turn, you are now facing and running in a straight line to central London, happy days!
You then have a very straight route that goes through the suburbs before you have your first wow moment around 10.5km which is at Greenwich and rounding the famous ship - the Cutty Sark. Up this point, crowds are good, the locals love it and will be out applausing even though it's early in the day but when you hit the Cutty Sark the atmosphere will smack you in the face and you'll feel on top of the world. There is a tight u-turn here where if you take a wrong line with heavy crowds and people stopping to soak it in you could lose a lot of time. However, if you think about it before and ride the atmopshere then you're flying towards halfway at Tower Bridge.
The Middle
The crowds start growing and growing towards but there is nothing uncomplicated in terms of the course, the road is flat and wide and you can really carry momentum and rhythm towards Tower Bridge. At 20.5km you will see a right turn approaching and as soon as you do it's one of the only inclines on the course that you'll realise. It's definitely one to think about in advance because your adrenaline here, crossing the iconic River Thames on the incredible Tower Bridge and you could easily push too hard uphill and then have a bit of a panic very soon after halfway when that hits. What goes up, must come down so you go up over the bridge and then down to the same degree - choose the tactic that serves you best.
When you turn right, you are now on a wide road where you can see the course on the other side of the road around 10km later. Depending on where you are but for most people you're likely to now see other runners coming back the other way, enviably 12-15km further down the road than you are. This road is fantastic as you see sponsors and crowds swell.
However, you're just about to hit the hardest part of the course. Prepare for it.
It's from around 26km - 34km where you wind around the Isle of Dogs and Canary Wharf. There are less crowds, the roads are narrower, the route has a lot of turns that can slow momentum, it's often in shade under the large buildings, and there are a few small bumps and rises in the roads.
Once you're out of this and you come back around to LimeHouse and approach the Tower of London - if you're feeling good then it's the greatest feeling in the world. This is because you are basically now running straight until the final turn, in one of the best cities in the world, the crowds are three rows deep, there are slight downhills and there are sponsor activations with music everywhere.
The Tower of London is particularly amazing to run past because 1. you run past Tower Bridge that was halfway and hits home what you've achieved already 2. the Tower of London is iconic and 3. you enjoy a sweeping downhill and under some tunnels shortly after where you can really gather your thoughts.
The Finish
Then the final 5km is exceptional. The road is smooth, it is pan flat running along the river and the course is incredibly wide. If you are suffering you can feel quite exposed because of how wide it is and by that time runners are naturally more spaced out. If you are feeling good, don't understimate you still have 5km to go but really just roll and progressively turn up your speed.
As you keep going around to the left following the river, the Millenium Eye will appear on your left across the river and Big Ben will loom infront of you. Suddenly you're facing it - the famous clocktower - and that turn right before the best finish in the world.
Your right turn comes with a wall of noise and cheering and it is 1.5km / or 1 mile to the finish. There is an ever so slight downhill that is brilliant to give you that final extra push to dig in or speed up if you can to finish well.
You'll cross into Birdcage walk, which is part of St. James park and you'll be under grassy green canopy of trees which is also a bit of sudden novelty of the course. This is a straight that feels longer than you think it should, but try to just soak it all in and want it to never end.
A sudden right turn and in front of you is Buckingham Palace out of nowhere, the stunning fountain, gold statues, flags, gantrys and the widest road that seems absurdly wide open just for you.
At this point you get the wave of having done it, the bend is not sharp enough to lose any speed so keep pushing and then you turn to have Buckinham palace at your back and this is the best feeling in running. That final straight at London Marathon. However if you are chasing every second, beware the finish line feels a bit further away than it should so on doing that turn you might still need to be keep pushing rather than cruise home.
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