For the 17th consecutive year, Guinness World Records and the TCS London Marathon joined forces to celebrate a day of sports and record breaking during one of the most prominent marathon events in the world.
All kinds of runners, from elite athletes to sports enthusiasts, took on the 74th edition of the marathon, which covers 26.2 mi (42.1 km) of the English capital.
Out of a total of 74 attempts, 44 Guinness World Records titles were broken at the 2024 event.
The day started with a costume check-up at the Green Start, where the aspiring record holders could check their guidelines one more time and meet the on-site GWR team for registration.
At the end of the race, official Guinness World Records Adjudicator Mark McKinley was ready to congratulate the new record holders, crowning their attempts with a coveted Guinness World Records certificate.
Regarding the day, Mark said: "I've been lucky enough to adjudicate several TCS London Marathon record attempts over the years and I am always inspired by the courage it takes to train and run a marathon, let alone for a record title."
"All of our 74 Guinness World Records attempts today have been a display of true determination and we are so happy to be able to award those that were successful not only the record title, but a place in the next edition of our book to share their achievement with the world. - Mark
Records in fancy dresses were shattered from the early afternoon, with runners flaunting carefully crafted (and significantly heavy) costumes while pushing their boundaries to raise awareness for charitable causes close to their hearts.
From a historically accurate replica of Napoleon's favourite uniform to marathons carrying bikes, as well as a massive 10-person bus costume, the day was jam-packed with positive energy, amazing results and brand-new record titles.
Still thinking of breaking a record at a marathon? We've got you!
Prepare your best running shoes, get your training programme ready and check out the official Guinness World Records marathon page.
Kicking off the day, elite marathon runner Peres Jepchirchir set a new record by running the fastest marathon (female, women-only race) ever with an incredible time of 02:16:16.
Following up, paralympic athlete Richard Whitehead broke the record for the fastest marathon (LA3) (male) with a time of 02:42:01.
Simone Carniglia also racked up a fantastic time of 02:44:33 and set a world record for the fastest marathon by a type 1 diabetic (male).
The first record in a fancy dress on the day was Stephen Cochrane, who came in at an incredible time of 02:48:51 and beat the record for fastest marathon dressed as a scientist (male).
Stephen, who was running to raise awareness on the Royal Society of Chemistry, said that being part of the Guinness World Records family is "something that he'll be immensely proud of".
The second runner to smash a world record was Simon Killen, who ran the fastest marathon dressed as a videogame character (male) while racking up the incredible time of 02:52:57.
Have a look at all the records broken on the day:
- Peres Jepchirchir: Fastest marathon (female, women-only race) - 02:16:16
- Richard Whitehead: Fastest marathon (LA3) (male) - 02:42:01
- Simone Carniglia: Fastest marathon by a type 1 diabetic (male) - 02:44:33
- Stephen Cochrane: Fastest marathon dressed as a scientist (male) - 02:48:51
- Simon Killen: Fastest marathon dressed as a videogame character (male) - 02:52:57
- Sam Hull: Fastest marathon dressed as a tennis player (male) - 02:59:38
- Warren Parish: Fastest marathon dressed as a cheerleader (male) - 03:03:51
- Holly Brownlee: Fastest marathon dressed in pyjamas (female) - 03:06:18
- Jonathan Astle: Fastest marathon with multiple sclerosis (male) - 03:07:34
- Marcus Mumford: Fastest marathon dressed as a tap/faucet (male) - 03:10:50
- James Whistler: Fastest marathon dressed as a harlequin (male) - 03:12:00
- Alison Stewart: Fastest marathon dressed as a videogame character (female) - 03:19:10
- James Applegarth: Fastest marathon in pilot uniform (male) - 03:20:25
- Ian Howard: Fastest marathon dressed as a rotating puzzle cube (male) - 03:20:31
- Lee Baynton: Fastest marathon in a full-body inflatable costume (male) - 03:21:07
- Matt Everett: Fastest marathon dressed as a traffic cone (male) - 03:22:16
- Douglas O'Neill: Fastest marathon dressed as a sweet food (male) - 03:28:16
- Gilles Dufosse: Fastest marathon dressed as a monarch (male) - 03:32:16
- Kate Baldock: Fastest marathon dressed as a Star Wars character (female) - 03:33:12
- Toby Norman: Fastest marathon dressed as a three dimensional aircraft (male) - 03:34:27
- Ollie Shortt: Fastest marathon dressed as a body part (male) - 03:43:00
- Laura Baker: Fastest marathon dressed as a sweet food (female) - 03:45:57
- Tom Hall: Fastest marathon dressed as an emoji (male) - 03:50:17
- Claire Casselton: Fastest marathon dressed as a skeleton (female) - 03:51:01
- Ben Kellett: Fastest marathon carrying a bicycle - 03:54:52
- Kimberly Siano: Fastest marathon dressed in a safari suit (female) - 03:54:58
- Uilszaya Bodikhuu: Fastest marathon dressed in traditional Mongolian dress (female) - 03:59:56
- Jennifer Stack: Fastest marathon dressed as a flag (female) - 04:01:02
- Charlie Fitton: Fastest marathon dressed as a snowperson (female) - 04:05:52
- Karen Stebel: Fastest marathon dressed as a mobile phone (female) - 04:08:42
- Joanne Bridle: Fastest marathon dressed as a clown (female) - 04:16:36
- Jani Barré: Fastest marathon in a non-racing wheelchair (female) - 04:19:21
- Adrian Bebb: Fastest marathon dressed as a road vehicle (male) - 04:21:41
- Andrew Roberts: Fastest marathon wearing chainmail (upper body) - 04:22:24
- Alexandra Fresco-Sumner: Fastest marathon dressed as a mechanic (female) - 04:28:58
- Caroline Duncan: Fastest marathon dressed in a flight suit (female) - 04:36:16
- Emma Whatley: Fastest marathon dressed as a road vehicle (female) - 04:38:30
- Andy Fountain: Fastest marathon dressed as a rocking horse (male) - 05:04:02
- Phillip Beer: Fastest marathon dressed as a book (male) - 05:08:04
- Georgina Box: Fastest marathon in a full-body inflatable costume (female) - 05:10:31
- Anthony Bryan: Fastest marathon (CIH) (male) - 05:49:04
- Brendan Matthews: Most T-shirts worn during a marathon (male) - 100 T-shirts
- Jackie Scully, Frances Walker, Petr Maslov, Aileen Rice-Jones, Daniel Smith, Alex Weight, James Read, Kate Rham, Cameron Sharpe, Michael Edwards: Fastest marathon in a ten-person costume – 06:32:05
- Lloyd Martin: Youngest person to complete a marathon (II2) (male) - 06:46:10
Congratulations to all the runners who have participated in the TCS London Marathon 2024.
We can't wait to see the amazing records that will be broken next year!
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