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Post Race: Men’s Race and Commentary | Women’s Race and Commentary 
Pre-Race: London Marathon Preview | Elite Athlete Past Matchups | Prize Money & Starter List
Athlete Bios: Men’s Race – Top Competitors | Women’s Race – Top Competitors

Featured Book/Movie: Run For Your Life | A Race Like No Other

Interesting Extras: Athlete/Course Videos | Course Map
Other News Sources: Press Releases | General News

The London Marathon has more funds to bring in elite athletes than any other marathon in the world. With this money, event organizers can bring in the best of the best. The 2012 London Marathon saw the return of the top seven men from the 2011 race and nine of the top ten women from the 2011 race.

Photo Credit: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun
Prince Harry with Mary Keitany and Wilson Kipsang

The Races:
Men:
The men’s race was exciting as the runners went out at a pace well ahead of the world record, but ultimately slowing. Wilson Kipsang finished with a strong 2:04:44 win (just 4 seconds off the record); and Martin Lel outkicked Tsegaye Kebede for second place – amazing. This was Lel’s third runner-up finish at the London Marathon which added to his three wins at London equals six top-two finishes at the race that arguably hosts the strongest field in the world each year. No One else has had that level success at London.
The Men’s Race

Women:
The London Marathon confirmed Mary Keitany’s place as one of the best runners ever as she ran 2:18:37 to defend her London Marathon title, become the fourth woman ever to break 2:19 and also set the Kenyan National record. That performance came after a slow first half of the run and then a 1:07:44 second half of the race by Keitany. Edna Kiplagat also impressed by running sub 2:20 for the first time to finish second.
The Women’s Race

How did it all play out? Read the full stories:
The Men’s Race
The Women’s Race

The Elite Race

Race PreviewThe Fields/The Preview The men’s race features some of the fastest in the world and 8 of 10 of the previous London Marathon field – all vying to prove they are the best. Get Race Insight, a detailed starter list with accomplishments and More: Read the Marathon Preview / Starter Lists Previous Head-To-Head Performances/Meetings Many of the elite athletes at the 2012 London Marathon have faced off at other marathons. Take a look at our head-to-head display of all of the past meetings of these runners – you can learn a lot about these athletes by seeing how they’ve performed against each other in the past. Previous Elite Head-To-Head Performances Athlete Bios MarathonGuide.com has compiled biographies for most of the top men and women in the field – who they are, why you should care. These are some of the best marathoners in the world – some are race-hardened veterans and others are still fighting to show that they are the best of the best. Anything can happen on race day and it helps to understand who these men and women are. Men’s Race – The Top Competitors Women’s Race – The Top Competitors

What Others Are Writing…

We’re not the only ones who love this race, and we’re not the only one covering it, but we hand-deliver links to press releases and news articles not written by the MarathonGuide.com staff, just for you. London Marathon Press Releases London Marathon News

Past Years…

MarathonGuide.com has been covering the London Marathon since 2007. Our past coverage can tell you what has been the past strategy and from history we can learn about the future… London Marathon 2011 London Marathon 2010 London Marathon 2009 London Marathon 2008 London Marathon 2007