London Marathon considering major change for 2027 elite women’s race by including male runners

“We’re prepared to mix it up. We very much talk to the athletes about what their goals are,” he told the Independent.

In recent years, London’s elite women’s contest has been a women-only affair, a format that typically makes record-breaking harder because fewer runners compete at the sharp end of the field.

The overall mixed-race world record of 2:09:56 belongs to Kenyan athlete Ruth Chepng’etich, who achieved the time at the 2024 Chicago Marathon.

That mark has been mired in controversy after Chepng’etich returned a positive drug test five months later and received a three-year ban in 2025.

“I’m sorry, but I think that world record is entirely dubious; if you study everything that’s been said, from the AIU (Athletics Integrity Unit), and what they believe, that’s a personal opinion,” Brasher said.

The London Marathon chief has also been vocal about the need for greater integrity across the World Marathon Majors, particularly after the provisional suspension of Peres Jepchirchir, who also failed a drugs test.

Ethiopian star Tigst Assefa, the holder of the women-only world record after her 2:15:41 run at the 2026 London Marathon, appeared destined to surpass Chepng’etich’s overall mark at this year’s Berlin Marathon.

But she suffered an Achilles tendon rupture in the closing stages, forcing her to limp across the finish line in 2:11:04.

Basher said: “I think what Tigst did in Berlin, it was a tragedy, in terms of the injury she got, we wish her well.

“It was incredible, she was going to beat that world record. It’s in touching distance.”

Paula Radcliffe set the mixed-race women’s world record of 2:15:25 in London back in 2003, running alongside male competitors.

Brasher noted Radcliffe herself “probably says they didn’t help her at all”.

Discussions with the world’s leading female marathon runners about their preferred race format are ongoing, with an announcement on the elite fields anticipated in January.

He said: “We talk to the women and what they want to achieve, those conversation are still going on about 2027.

“We’re still signing athletes, and what we will have is some incredible racing, both men and women that are running, when we announce them in January, will have people salivating about racing.

“They say the London Marathon is harder to win than the Olympics or the World Championships, we delight in the competition and strength of the competition, it’s all part of such an incredible day.

“All things are on the table, all things, so many things we’re going through, we have ideas.”

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