Marathon world record holder Ruth Chepngetich will race in London
Confirmed: history-setter Ruth Chepngetich, who stunned the world in Chicago last October when she became the fastest woman of all time over the marathon, will compete at the 2025 London Marathon on Sunday 27 April.
At the 2024 Chicago Marathon, 30-year-old Chepngetich, of Kenya, stole everyone’s breath when she won the elite women’ s race in a jaw-dropping time of 2:09:56. In doing so, she eclipsed the previous women’ s marathon world record of 2:11:53, set by Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa at the 2023 Berlin Marathon, by almost two minutes – and became the first-ever woman to break the until-then mythical 2:10 barrier for the marathon.
Boasting a ferocious running style that sees her attack the race from the outset, then hang on for the remaining miles, Chepngetich is no stranger to breaking the tape in Chicago. To date, she has won the elite women’s marathon on three occasions (2021, 2022 and 2024) and placed second on her other showing at the flat, fast, fiercely contested race in 2023.
However, the world-record-holding runner – who, among other victories over 26.2 miles, also won marathon gold at the 2019 World Championships – has unfinished business in London. Despite holding three of 10 fastest women’s marathon times in history and being the only woman to have run a sub-2:16 marathon on three separate occasions, Chepngetich has never claimed victory on The Mall. She finished third in the 2020 London Marathon – which, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, was held as an elite-only event on a multi-lap course around St James’s Park – and ninth at last year’s race.
That said, Chepngetich’s fight for the top spot at the 2025 London Marathon will be anything but straightforward, as this year’s start line will feature an abundance of top-tier running talent. Among the women facing Chepngetich will be reigning Olympic marathon champion Sifan Hassan, of the Netherlands, and fellow Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir, who seized the women’s-only marathon world record when she won the 2024 London Marathon in 2:16:16.
Women’s-only world records acknowledge the fastest times clocked in races where, as the name suggests, only women take part. Since elite women and elite men run separate, standalone races at the London Marathon, Jepchirchir was eligible to attain the women’s-only world record here. Chepngetich’s marathon world record in Chicago does not double as a women’s-only marathon world record, because Chicago hosts a single elite race where women and men run together.
‘The London Marathon always brings together the best athletes in the world and I am sure this year will be as competitive as ever,’ said Chepngetich, who believes that another world record could be smashed on the streets of London this April. ‘Myself, Peres and the other women are strong, so it will be a competitive one and I want to prepare as best as I can and we will see if we can lower Peres’s world record of 2:16:16 from last year. With the strength of the field, I think we can support each other and maybe the world record will fall.’
‘I didn’t know it was possible, but I came to realise that dreams can come true,’ continued Chepngetich, reflecting on her historic marathon world record in Chicago last year. ‘When you work hard, believe in yourself and have discipline, everything is possible.’
Spencer Barden, Head of Elite Athletes at London Marathon Events, built on this sentiment. ‘Ruth’s world record at the Chicago Marathon last year was an incredible performance that redefined what is possible in women’s marathon running,’ said Barden. ‘So, we are delighted to welcome her back to the London Marathon and are very excited to see her take on the Olympic champion Sifan Hassan, plus last year’s champion and women’s-only world record holder Peres Jepchirchir, in what will be one of the great marathon contests.’
The full international fields for the men’s and women’s elite races at the 2025 London Marathon will be announced tomorrow (Thursday 16 January).
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