London Marathon Trivia
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7correct to beat the crowd
49 free London Marathon trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The London Marathon began as a newspaper column. One of its founders ran an American big-city marathon in 1979, came home raving about a city-wide street party, and sixteen months later thousands were lining up on a heath in south-east London. It has since become the biggest one-day fundraiser on earth and, in 2026, the race where two hours finally fell. These fifty questions cover the founders, the landmarks runners pass on the way to the finish, the course records and the years they were set, the champions on foot and in racing chairs, the sponsors whose names the race has carried, the ballot and charity places, the costumes and Guinness feats, and the strange elite-only edition of 2020. It suits anyone who has watched the race on a spring Sunday, trained for a place, or stood behind a barrier with a sign. Every answer is date-anchored and explained, so it works as a pub round or a pre-race warm-up.
30 of 49 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who became the first person to run a marathon under two hours in a record-eligible race, at London in 2026?
Sabastian Sawe
Sabastian Sawe clocked 1:59:30 on 26 April 2026, and runner-up Yomif Kejelcha also dipped under two hours in 1:59:41. Third-placed Jacob Kiplimo beat the old world record too.
Q 02Which Thames crossing marks the halfway point, reached after runners race along Jamaica Road?
Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge is where competitors reach half-way after Bermondsey, before heading east through Wapping toward Docklands. A cobbled stretch near the Tower of London was once carpeted to protect runners.
Q 03Runners leave Birdcage Walk past Buckingham Palace to finish the London Marathon on which road?
The Mall
The final 352 m (385 yards) run from Birdcage Walk past Buckingham Palace into The Mall, a stretch that also formed part of the 2012 Olympic marathon course. The London Eye comes into view on the Embankment a mile earlier.
Q 04The elite-only 2020 London Marathon was run as 19.6 laps of 2.15 km circling which royal green space?
St James's Park
St James's Park was closed to spectators on 4 October 2020 so the athletes could race inside a biosecure bubble, before a final 1,345 m along the usual finishing straight.
Q 05Roughly how much did 2025 London Marathon runners raise for charity, then a record for a one-day fundraising event?
£87 million
£87 million was raised at the 2025 race alone, almost £14 million more than the year before, lifting the total since 1981 to £1.4 billion.
Q 06Which Olympic rowing champion raised a then-record £1.8 million by running the 2006 London Marathon?
Steve Redgrave
Steve Redgrave's total beat the £1.25 million raised a year earlier by Oasis Trust founder Steve Chalke, who had reclaimed the record and pushed it past £2.3 million by 2011.
Q 07Which razor brand was the London Marathon's first title sponsor, backing the first three editions?
Gillette
Gillette was lined up by West Nally, a sports marketing agency asked to find a backer for the first race in 1981, and stayed for three editions before Mars took over in 1984.
Q 08Since 2022 the London Marathon has carried the name of which Indian technology giant as its title sponsor?
Tata Consultancy Services
Tata Consultancy Services was announced in 2021 as successor to a banking sponsor whose name had fronted the race since 2010. The event is now billed as the TCS London Marathon.
Q 09The London Marathon's colour-coded red, green and blue starts sit around which heath, 35 m above sea level?
Blackheath
Blackheath's starts feed a route that heads east through Charlton first, so the opening miles run away from the city before turning toward the river. The red start is in Greenwich Park on Charlton Way.
Q 10Which historic ship do London Marathon runners pass in Greenwich just after the 10 km mark?
Cutty Sark
Cutty Sark, a dry-docked tea clipper, comes just after the Old Royal Naval College. The ship was badly damaged by fire in 2007 and reopened to the public in 2012.
Q 11Which newspaper printed Chris Brasher's 1979 article hailing a marathon as 'the greatest folk festival'?
The Observer
The Observer, where Brasher had been sports editor, ran the piece soon after he finished the American race that inspired him, and London staged its own marathon in March 1981.
Q 12Co-founder John Disley, a 1952 Olympic steeplechase medallist, was Britain's leading pioneer of which sport?
Orienteering
Orienteering was championed by Disley, who raced at the 1966 World Championships, and by his co-founder, who gave the sport its first public mention in a 1957 column. Disley also set five British steeplechase records.
Q 13Where did the inaugural 1981 London Marathon finish, before building works forced a move the following year?
Q 21Which Ethiopian won the 2020 London sprint finish as Eliud Kipchoge, nursing a blocked ear, came eighth?
Shura Kitata
Shura Kitata outsprinted Vincent Kipchumba in 2:05:41, handing Kipchoge his first marathon defeat since 2013. Kitata had finished second to him in London in 2018.
Q 22Who won the 2021 men's race, the first London Marathon run in October on the traditional course?
Sisay Lemma
Sisay Lemma won in 2:04:01 on 3 October 2021, when 40,000 ran the course and another 40,000 completed a virtual race. He had been third on the 2020 lap circuit.
Q 23Which Ethiopian became London's youngest-ever women's winner in 2022 despite falling with 10 km to go?
Yalemzerf Yehualaw
Constitution Hill
Constitution Hill saw 6,255 finishers in 1981; from 1982 the line sat on Westminster Bridge for twelve years before moving to its present home in 1994.
Q 14In 2005 the London Marathon's loop around which area was switched from clockwise to anti-clockwise?
Isle of Dogs
Isle of Dogs runners now circle Mudchute and Canary Wharf the other way round between 22 and 34 km; the same year the route was diverted off the cobbles near the Tower of London.
Q 15Which Kenyan won the 2023 London Marathon in 2:01:25, then the second-fastest marathon in history?
Kelvin Kiptum
Kelvin Kiptum finished 16 seconds outside the world record and 72 seconds inside Eliud Kipchoge's course best, then broke the world record itself in Chicago six months later.
Q 16Which former 800 m specialist won the 2025 London women's race in 2:15:50, then a women-only world record?
Tigst Assefa
Tigst Assefa, who ran the 800 m at the 2016 Rio Olympics, returned in 2026 and lowered her own women-only mark to 2:15:41. Her 2023 Berlin time of 2:11:53 was a mixed-race world record.
Q 17Which Tokyo Olympic champion won the 2024 London Marathon in 2:16:16, breaking the women-only world record?
Peres Jepchirchir
Peres Jepchirchir had failed to finish her 2015 London debut and placed third in 2023 before winning in 2024. Her women-only record lasted just one year.
Q 18Which track star won the 2023 London women's race on her marathon debut despite twice stopping with a hip problem?
Sifan Hassan
Sifan Hassan pulled up after an hour, stopped again to stretch her quadriceps, then caught the leaders after 30 km to win in 2:18:33. She even nearly missed a drinks station near the end.
Q 19Who retained her London Marathon title at the elite-only 2020 race, winning by more than 3 minutes?
Brigid Kosgei
Brigid Kosgei broke away 18 miles into the lap course and stayed clear, a year after her 2019 win, while American Sara Hall snatched second place in the last 150 m.
Q 20Which Kenyan won the women's race at the 2018 London Marathon, the hottest then on record at 24.1 °C?
Vivian Cheruiyot
Vivian Cheruiyot won in 2:18:31 while the men's winner, on world-record pace early, faded to 2:04:17 in the heat. The 2018 day also produced a new British men's record in third place.
Yalemzerf Yehualaw, then 23, won in 2:17:26 at the last of the pandemic-shifted autumn editions, beating the defending champion by 41 seconds.
Q 24Who pulled away from Kenenisa Bekele in the final kilometres to win the 2024 London Marathon?
Alexander Mutiso
Alexander Mutiso Munyao won in 2:04:01, matching the 2021 winning time to the second, after dropping the Ethiopian great over the last three kilometres.
Q 25Whose 2017 London win in 2:17:01 stood as the women-only world record for seven years?
Mary Keitany
Mary Keitany also won in 2011 and 2012, and her 2017 mark survived until 2024. In 2019 the leaders passed 15 km four minutes slower than her record pace.
Q 26Which Norwegian's 1985 London Marathon win in 2:21:06 stood as the women's world record for 13 years?
Ingrid Kristiansen
Ingrid Kristiansen won London four times and took the record from Joan Benoit's 2:22:43; her 1987 attempt to lower it faded to 2:22:48. She also set world records at 5,000 m and 10,000 m.
Q 27Which Briton won the first two London Marathon women's races, in 1981 and 1982, the second aged 44?
Joyce Smith
Joyce Smith's 2:29:57 in 1981 made her the first British woman under 2:30, and her 1982 win at 44 years 195 days remains the oldest by a London champion. She ran the 1984 Olympic marathon at 46.
Q 28Who won the 1985 London Marathon men's race in 2:08:16 despite a mid-race toilet stop?
Steve Jones
Steve Jones claimed he hadn't even trained for the race, six months after a world record 2:08:05 in his first completed marathon in Chicago. He coached himself throughout.
Q 29As of 2026, who is the most recent British man to win the London Marathon, outsprinting Mexico's Isidro Rico in 1993?
Eamonn Martin
Eamonn Martin won in 2:10:50 on his marathon debut, outkicking Rico in a sprint finish, and no British man had won the race again by 2026.
Q 30Which 1984 London Marathon winner took Olympic bronze that summer, Britain's last Olympic marathon medal as of 2024?
Charlie Spedding
Charlie Spedding finished two seconds behind silver medallist John Treacy in Los Angeles, the first British Olympic marathon medal in 20 years. He ran 2:08:33 for second in London in 1985.