The London Marathon Organisers on Tuesday confirmed the 2022 London Marathon will take place in October 3 and not April as per the marathons tradition.

The 2020 race that was to be held in October was postponed by organizer due to corona Virus Pandemic and it has been scheduled to October 2 2021.

Marathon Events director Hugh Brasher said in a statement that covid-19 have been a big challenge and different approaches are being taken to manage.

“We are living in a hugely uncertain world – a world where different approaches to managing Covid-19 are being explored and executed.” Said Brasher.

“The London Marathon is an extraordinary and unique celebration of the family of humankind coming together.” Brasher Added.

London Marathon from the history has been held in April and because of covid-19 pandemic it has been pushed severally and according to Brasher this gives them the best chances of welcoming many people to the event.

“We believe that by moving the 2022 event to October we give ourselves the best chances of welcoming the world to the streets of London, enabling tens of millions to be raised for good causes and giving people the certainty that their hard work and training will allow them to experience the amazing crowds cheering them every step of the way, from Greenwich to Westminster.

Brasher added that the event will go back to it’s traditional calendar in 2023.

“For 39 years, the London Marathon has been a spring event and we will return to our traditional slot in the calendar in 2023 when the TCS London Marathon will take place on Sunday 23 April.”

Records

The only man to set a world record at the London Marathon is the USA’s Khalid Khannouchi, who ran a time of 2:05:38 in 2002. The men’s course record is 2:02:37, set in 2019 by four-time winner and arguably the greatest marathon runner of all time, Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya.

Photo/courtesy

Australia’s Kurt Fearnley set the men’s wheelchair race course record at 1:28:57 in 2009 and the women’s wheelchair course record belongs to Switzerland’s Manuela Schär, who finished in 1:39:57 in 2017.

Only five athletes have won three consecutive London Marathon titles – Mexico’s Dionicio Cerón (1994-96) in the men’s race, Germany’s Katrin Dörre-Heinig (1992-94) in the women’s race, David Weir (2006-08) in the men’s wheelchair race, and both Francesca Porcellato (2003-06) of Italy and the USA’s Tatyana McFadden (2013-2016) have gone one better by winning four in a row.

Components and Significance

The race has several components: it has a mass race for the public, professional races for men and women long-distance runners, elite level wheelchair races for men and women, plus a 3-mile mini marathon event for under-17 athletes. The mass race is the largest marathon event in the United Kingdom and its third largest running event (after the Great North Run and Great Manchester Run). There is a significant charity running aspect to the marathon, with participants helping to raise over £1 billion since its founding, including £66.4 million at the 2019 London Marathon which was the highest amount for a single-day fund-raising event.