Kipchoge unseated, Lakatos victorious at London Marathon

On a cold and wet day in early October, the world learned that fourtime London Marathon champion and world record holder Eliud Kipchoge is mortal after all. Kipchoge finished a shocking eighth at the 40th running of the storied race, an elites-only affair consisting of multiple laps around St. James’s Park with strictly managed covid protocols. Ethiopia’s Shura Kitata, who finished second to Kipchoge in 2018, claimed victory in a thrilling sprint finish against Kenya’s Vincent Kipchumba (who finished one second back), recording a 2:05:41, with Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia third in 2:05:45. Kipchoge’s time was 2:06:49 – his slowest-ever marathon. Canada’s Tristan Woodfine had the race of his life, comfortably achieving Olympic qualification (his 2:10:51 was a two-minute personal best) in very uncomfortable conditions that sent Canadian record holder Cam Levins home with a dnf.

World record holder Brigid Kosgei won the women’s race in 2:18:58. In a gut-wrenching sprint for second place, Sara Hall of the U.S. overtook the reigning world champion, Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich, for a new PB of 2:22:01. U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials second-place finisher Molly Seidel finished in sixth place, with a huge PB of 2:25:13, in only her second marathon.

Canada’s Brent Lakatos battled throughout the men’s wheelchair race, finally taking a decisive lead in the final 200m and winning it for the first time in 1:36:04. (It’s also the first time a Canadian has won London since Josh Cassidy’s victory in 2010.) Eight-time champion David Weir of the U.K. finished second, two-time winner Marcel Hug of Switzerland third. Only seven seconds separated the top six finishers. The women’s wheelchair race was a huge upset by Nikita Den Boer of the Netherlands (1:40:07) over Switzerland’s Manuela Schär, who was coming off nine straight wins at world majors. Jenna Fesemyer of the U.S. finished third.