24th London Marathon
VenueLondon, United Kingdom
Date18 April 2004
Champions
MenEvans Rutto (2:06:18)
WomenMargaret Okayo (2:22:35)
Wheelchair menSaúl Mendoza (1:36:56)
Wheelchair womenFrancesca Porcellato (2:04:58)

The 2004 London Marathon was the 24th running of the annual marathon race in London, United Kingdom, which took place on Sunday 18 April. The race was the coldest London Marathon in history, and the wettest race in history until it was surpassed in 2020.

The elite men's race was won by Kenya's Evans Rutto in a time of 2:06:18 and the women's race was won in 2:22:35 by Margaret Okayo, also of Kenya. In the wheelchair races, Mexico's Saúl Mendoza (1:36:56) and Italy's Francesca Porcellato (2:04:58) won the men's and women's divisions, respectively. In the mass-participation race, a total of 31,659 runners, 23,265 men and 8,394 women, finished the race.

Competitors

The men's race featured 2003 winner Gezahegne Abera and Evans Rutto, whose debut time at the 2003 Chicago Marathon was the fastest first race time by anyone,[1] and was enough to win the event.[2] Sammy Korir, who had recorded the second fastest marathon of all-time also competed,[1] as did Moroccan world champion Jaouad Gharib.[3] Paul Tergat, the world record holder in the men's marathon, did not compete due to an injury.[4]

The women's race featured Margaret Okayo, who had won two New York City Marathons, and Sun Yingjie was a favourite for the race.[5] Sun had set the third fastest time ever at the 2003 Beijing Marathon. Paula Radcliffe, who won the 2003 race did not compete;[6] she had set the women's marathon world record at that event.[7]

Race summary

Black woman running in white top and blue bottoms on a road.
Margaret Okayo won the elite women's race.
Headshot of a white woman in a bright blue kit with cars in the background.
Francesca Porcellato won the women's wheelchair race

The elite and wheelchair races started in dry conditions, though the course became wet later on.[8] It was the coldest London Marathon in history, as the temperature was 5.3 °C (41.5 °F) at the start of the races.[9] There was 12.4 millimetres (0.49 in) of rain during the race, making it at the time the wettest London Marathon event in history;[10] the 2020 London Marathon later surpassed the 2004 race for amount of rain, as it was run during Storm Alex.[9]

The men's race was won by Kenyan Evans Rutto. Sammy Korir finished second and Jaouad Gharib finished third.[1] Gezahegne Abera withdrew from the race after about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi).[1] Rutto, Korir and John Yuda Msuri broke away from the pack around 25 kilometres (16 mi) into the race, and Yuda was distanced from the pair about 6 miles (9.7 km) from the finish line.[1] During the race, Rutto fell on a cobblestone section near to the Tower of London and brought down Korir;[1] the 2005 race was rerouted to avoid these cobblestones.[11][12] At the time, Rutto's time of 2:06:18 was the best finishing time for a marathon that year. Rutto was not selected in the Kenyan team for the 2004 Summer Olympics, as Korir was chosen instead.[2] Jon Brown was the highest place British finisher, and he finished faster than the Olympic qualifying time.[1]

The women's race was won by Kenyan Margaret Okayo,[5] ahead of Lyudmila Petrova in second,[2] and Constantina Diță in third.[5] It was the first time that Kenyan athletes had won both the men's and women's London Marathon events in the same year.[2] Okayo fell behind the leading pack containing Diță after around 10 miles (16 km) of the race, but caught and passed the leaders around 20 miles (32 km) into the race.[5] Diță was overtaken in the closing stages of the race.[5] Tracey Morris was the highest finishing Briton in the race;[5] as a result, she was selected for the British marathon team for the 2004 Summer Olympics, alongside Paula Radcliffe and Liz Yelling.[13]

The men's wheelchair race was won by Mexican Saúl Mendoza, with David Weir finishing second.[14] During the race, Mendoza accidentally followed a police motorbike which diverted him away from the course.[15]

The women's wheelchair race was won by Italian Francesca Porcellato for the second successive year. Briton Paula Craig finished second, with Swedish debutant Gunilla Wallengren finishing third.[14]

Non-elite race

Headshot of man with blonde wig in fluorescent yellow running top.
Tony Audenshaw, pictured here in 2011, was the first celebrity to finish.

The mass-participation event had three start points.[3] The races from those locations were started by former runner Roger Bannister, rugby union player Jonny Wilkinson and then IAAF president Lamine Diack respectively.[8] A total of 108,000 people applied to enter the race: 45,219 had their applications accepted and 32,746 started the race.[16] A total of 31,659 runners, 23,265 men and 8,394 women, finished the race.[17] Finishers included Fauja Singh, who was aged 93,[8] and finished in a time of 6:07:13.[18] Singh was the oldest finisher at any London Marathon.[19]

Emmerdale star Tony Audenshaw was the first celebrity to finish, and other notable celebrity participants included chefs Gordon Ramsay and Michel Roux, as well as jockey Richard Dunwoody, former cricketer Graham Gooch, former swimmer Adrian Moorhouse, former England football manager Graham Taylor,[8] former leader of the Conservative Party Iain Duncan Smith and politician Jeffrey Archer.[15]

Results

Note: Only the top 20 finishers are listed.

Men

Elite men's top 20 finishers[20]
Position Athlete Nationality Time
1st place, gold medalist(s)Evans Rutto Kenya2:06:20
2nd place, silver medalist(s)Sammy Korir Kenya2:06:48
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)Jaouad Gharib Morocco2:07:12
4Stefano Baldini Italy2:08:37
5Tesfaye Tola Ethiopia2:09:07
6Benoît Zwierzchiewski France2:09:35
7Abdelkader El Mouaziz Morocco2:09:42
8Lee Troop Australia2:09:42
9John Yuda Msuri Tanzania2:10:13
10Joseph Kadon Kenya2:11:30
11Joseph Ngolepus Kenya2:12:02
12William Kiplagat Kenya2:12:04
13Sisay Bezabeh Australia2:12:05
14Scott Westcott Australia2:13:30
15Jon Brown United Kingdom2:13:39
16Dan Robinson United Kingdom2:13:53
17Nikolaos Polias Greece2:15:02
18Chris Cariss United Kingdom2:15:08
19Huw Lobb United Kingdom2:15:49
20Mark Hudspith United Kingdom2:16:15

Women

Elite women's top 20 finishers[20]
Position Athlete Nationality Time
1st place, gold medalist(s)Margaret Okayo Kenya2:22:35
2nd place, silver medalist(s)Lyudmila Petrova Russia2:26:02
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)Constantina Diță Romania2:26:52
4Albina Mayorova Russia2:27:25
5Joyce Chepchumba Kenya2:28:01
6Svetlana Zakharova Russia2:28:10
7Yingjie Sun China2:28:32
8Alina Ivanova Russia2:28:48
9Svetlana Demidenko Russia2:33:06
10Tracey Morris United Kingdom2:33:52
11Birhan Dagne United Kingdom2:34:45
12Jackie Gallagher Australia2:34:48
13Jo Lodge United Kingdom2:34:49
14Michelle Lee United Kingdom2:35:51
15Sue Harrison United Kingdom2:38:20
16Michaela McCullum United Kingdom2:39:10
17Mara Yamauchi United Kingdom2:39:15
18Spyridoula Souma Greece2:40:34
19Valerie Young Ireland2:41:32
20Susan Partridge United Kingdom2:41:44

Wheelchair men

Wheelchair men's finishers[20]
Position Athlete Nationality Time
1st place, gold medalist(s)Saúl Mendoza Mexico1:36:56
2nd place, silver medalist(s)David Weir United Kingdom1:42:50
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)Alain Fuss France1:45:25
4Tushar Patel United Kingdom1:51:03
5Jeff Adams Canada1:59:07
6Jason Richards United Kingdom2:00:11
7Andrew Cheek United Kingdom2:03:31
8Daniel Kukla Slovenia2:05:02
9Steve Williamson United Kingdom2:18:42
10Geof Allen United Kingdom2:21:44

Wheelchair women

Wheelchair women's finishers[20]
Position Athlete Nationality Time
1st place, gold medalist(s)Francesca Porcellato Italy2:04:58
2nd place, silver medalist(s)Paula Craig United Kingdom2:07:52
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)Gunilla Wallengren Sweden2:14:13
4Michelle Lewis United Kingdom2:52:27

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Rutto survives fall to win". BBC Sport. 18 April 2004. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "London 04 - The Race Report". Runner's World. 19 April 2004. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Ethiopia's "Beckham" draws strength from impassioned support". The Independent. 17 April 2004. p. 60. Retrieved 13 September 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Okayo in quick return to race action". London Evening Standard. 21 April 2004. p. 128. Retrieved 13 September 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Okayo recovers to take win". BBC Sport. 18 April 2004. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  6. ↑ "Sun threatens to put Radcliffe in the shade". The Independent. 16 April 2004. p. 47. Retrieved 13 September 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Paula Radcliffe recalls her 'impossible' London marathon record run". The Observer. 20 April 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Marathon spirit high despite rain". BBC News. 18 April 2004. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  9. 1 2 Ingle, Sean (4 October 2020). "London Marathon: Kitata and Kosgei win as blocked ear foils Kipchoge". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  10. ↑ "London Marathon: Facts you may not know about the capital's famous 26.2 mile event". ITV News. 30 September 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  11. ↑ "Flora London Marathon Course Changes 2005". Runner's World. 13 December 2004. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  12. ↑ "Bedford backs Brown to run his lifetime best". London Evening Standard. 21 December 2004. p. 37. Retrieved 13 September 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Marathon runner makes Olympics". BBC News. 19 April 2004. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  14. 1 2 "Mendoza wins on debut". BBC News. 18 April 2004. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  15. 1 2 "Weather fails to spoil London marathon". The Guardian. 19 April 2004. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  16. ↑ Stats and Figures Archived 23 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine. London Marathon. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  17. ↑ London Marathon - Race Results. Marathon Guide. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  18. ↑ Mayhew, Ed (2005). Fitter for Life: The Secrets of 25 Masters of Fitness. Airleaf. pp. 118–120. ISBN 9781594537127.
  19. ↑ "London Marathon: 26 facts and records from the capital's big race". Evening Standard. 23 April 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  20. 1 2 3 4 "2004 London Marathon". Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
Results
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