London Marathon 2022: Meet five of the runners who took part in this year’s race

Over 40,000 runners took part in this year’s London Marathon, completing a gruelling 26.2 miles.

Runners took off in Greenwich this morning and made their way around central London passing some of the city’s most iconic landmarks.

These included Big Ben and the Tower of London before finishing up at Buckingham Palace.

This is the third time the event has been held in October having been moved because of the coronavirus pandemic, before returning to its traditional spring slot next year.

Ethiopian athlete Yalemzerf Yehualaw, 23, won the women’s elite race in 2:17:25 - her first London marathon - while Kenyan runner, Amos Kipruto, 30, won the men’s elite race in 2:04:17.

LondonWorld caught up with a few of the runners who triumphantly crossed the finish line.

Keith McGuile, 42, from Belfast

Kevin McGuile travelled from Belfast to take part in the race today and completed the 26.2 mile challenge in three hours and 12 minutes.

“This was my first London marathon and it was a beautiful experience,” he told LondonWorld.

“It was very tough, the weather was very kind, but probably a bit too warm in the end.

“I was due to run for Cancer Research in 2020 and then Covid put an end to that.

“I did my first marathon in Dublin in 2017 and I’ve really not stopped training since.

“The last few miles were tough, it sort of tells at the end of the marathon if you haven’t put the training in but I finished in three hours and 12 minutes, so I’m delighted.”

Stephen Chapman, 47,  from Margate

Stephen Chapman travelled from Margate to take part in the London Marathon.

He had previously ran several years ago in 2006 and 2007 and ran today for Cancer Research.

“I found it alright up until 20 miles but then it was really painful until 25 miles,” he told LondonWorld.

“It loosened up at the end but I think that was maybe psychological.

“I’m running for Cancer Research today, as my mother died at 62 and my cousin died at 42 from it.

“My mother in law is a survivor, she had stage four but she survived with this new treatment.

“I raised £2,000 in the end.”

Johanna Buitrago, 32, from Colombia

This was Johann’s first ever marathon.

She moved to London from Colombia last year and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

“I was so excited today as it was my first marathon but I’m very tired now,” she said.

“I lived in Panama for seven years and that’s where I got into running.

“Now I continue training alone here in London.”

Nathan Rugg, 46, travelled from Chicago

Nathan Rugg has run more than 20 marathons in his lifetime, but this was his first London Marathon.

“This was about my 20th marathon today, I’ve lost track of how many I’ve run,” he said.

“It was a tough run throughout.

“I ran the Berlin Marathon last week, with a bunch of my mates and I got sick.

“I had a stomach bug and a cold but I wanted to run today.

“There are really good crowds here so that helped me today.”

Gaby Pearsons, 24

Gaby Pearson ran her first ever marathon today for Fashion & Textiles Children’s Trust, a charity which supports underprivileged families who work in the fashion industry.

“This was my first marathon today, my goal was to finish in four hours and I got three hours and 38 minutes so it went a lot better than I thought,” she said.

“I feel I probably should have trained more so if I do it again I’ll definitely train a bit more.

“In my last training session I ran 32km and I thought because I ran that amount it would be okay but the last 10km for me were so hard.

“The last six miles I was just really really struggling.”

The ballot to enter next year’s London Marathon is open until 9pm on Friday October 7.