2013 London Marathon

After the Boston Marathon bombings six days before the London Marathon, organisers issued a statement announcing that the event's security—which is jointly planned with the Metropolitan Police—would be reviewed.{{cite web|title=Virgin London Marathon statement on the explosions at the Boston Marathon |url=http://lrn.london-marathon.com/virgin-london-marathon-statement-explosions-boston/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130418065357/http://lrn.london-marathon.com/virgin-london-marathon-statement-explosions-boston/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 April 2013 |publisher=Virgin London Marathon |accessdate=21 April 2013 }} On 16 April, Minister for Sport Hugh Robertson announced that the event would go ahead as planned, stating that he was "absolutely confident" that organisers can "keep the event safe and secure."{{cite news|last1=Gibson|first1=Owen|last2=Walker|first2=Peter|last3=Dodd|first3=Vikram|title=London Marathon will go ahead as planned, sports minister says|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/apr/16/boston-london-marathon-go-ahead|accessdate=21 April 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|date=16 April 2013}} Forty percent more police officers were deployed to manage the race than in 2012.

File:2013 London Marathon at Victoria Embankment (1).JPG]]

The 2013 London Marathon began with a 30-second moment of silence in honour of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.{{cite news|title=London Marathon: Runners and crowds mark Boston attack|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22236946|accessdate=21 April 2013|publisher=BBC|date=21 April 2013}} Many runners also wore black ribbons on the encouragement of race organisers. Organisers also pledged to donate US$3 to a fund for Boston Marathon victims for every person who finished the race. The weather was ideal for racing, drawing 700,000 fans and raising the prospect of a world record time.{{cite news|title=London Marathon 2013: Priscah Jeptoo and Tsegaye Kebede win|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/athletics/22238317|accessdate=21 April 2013|publisher=BBC|date=21 April 2013}}

Through the halfway mark of the men's race, the leaders were on world record pace. At that point, Great Britain's Mo Farah withdrew from the race, as he had planned. The pace dropped off after that and Emmanuel Mutai of Kenya built a large lead. In the final kilometre of the race, Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia surged past Mutai to win the men's marathon with a time of two hours, six minutes and four seconds. Ayele Abshero of Ethiopia finished third. 2012 Olympic champion Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda took sixth.

At the {{convert|15|km|adj=on}} mark, the women's elite leaders converged with men's wheelchair racers at a water station. Ethiopia's Tiki Gelana, who won the marathon at the 2012 Olympics in London, and Canadian wheelchair racer Josh Cassidy collided as she attempted to cut in front of him to get water. She returned to the race, but fell off the pace in clear pain. Priscah Jeptoo of Kenya pulled away from the lead group of three when she ran a 5-minute, 11-second 21st mile.{{cite news|title=Ethiopia's Kebede wins London Marathon|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/sport/athletics/2013/04/201342111463715901.html|accessdate=21 April 2013|agency=Agence France-Presse|publisher=Al Jazeera|date=21 April 2013}} She won the women's race with a time of two hours, 20 minutes and 15 seconds. "Today I'm very, very happy, I couldn't believe I could be the winner," Jeptoo remarked. Edna Kiplagat of Kenya and Yukiko Akaba of Japan finished second and third respectively.

In the men's wheelchair race, Kurt Fearnley of Australia won an eight-way sprint to the finish to win with a time of 1:31:29. He credited a new training regimen for his win and remarked "I realised last year that at the last {{convert|300|m|abbr=on}} if someone's got that extra bit of power up their sleeve they beat you every time."{{cite news|title=Kurt Fearnley wins London wheelchair marathon|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/more-sport/kurt-fearnley-wins-london-wheelchair-marathon/story-fnducgor-1226625440264|accessdate=21 April 2013|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=21 April 2013}} Marcel Hug of Switzerland took second and Ernst van Dyk from South Africa finished third. Pre-race favourite and six-time winner David Weir of Great Britain finished fifth. Cassidy, who dropped out of the race after the crash, had harsh words for the race organisers. "I don't know who's responsible, but every year we come to overtake the women, there's 10 chairs going at {{convert|20|mph|abbr=on}} and the poor women are scrambling to find their feet," he said. "I have a brand new $2,000 pair of wheels that are damaged, who's going to pay for them? Things have to change."

American Tatyana McFadden won the women's wheelchair race with a new course record of 1:46:02.{{cite web|title=Virgin London Marathon 2013 Tracking and Results|url=http://results-2013.virginlondonmarathon.com/2013/index.php?pid=leaderboard|publisher=Virgin London Marathon|accessdate=21 April 2013}} Fellow American Amanda McGrory finished second and Sandra Graf of Switzerland took third.

{{reflist|30em}}

;Results

• [http://results-2013.virginlondonmarathon.com/2013/index.php?pid=leaderboard Virgin London Marathon 2013 Tracking and Results]. London Marathon. Retrieved 2012-05-22.
• [https://more.arrs.run/race/176141 Men Results]. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
• [https://more.arrs.run/race/176142 Women Results]. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved 2020-05-02.

{{commons category}}

• {{Official website|http://www.virginlondonmarathon.com}}

{{2013 in athletics}}

{{London Marathon}}

{{Footer London Marathon Champions Men}}

{{Footer London Marathon Champions Women}}

{{Footer London Marathon Champions Wheelchair Men}}

{{Footer London Marathon Champions Wheelchair Women}}

2013

Marathon

London

London Marathon