London Marathon Statistics: 2018

Hottest (and Slowest) in Recent History

“View of Big Ben in London with the Parliament building in the background” by Marcin Nowak on

The high temperatures were a big story for the London Marathon in 2018. The marathon was one of the hottest in the history of the race, and the finishing times reflected the difficult conditions.

I ran a few basic stats on the finishing times, and I compared these stats to recent years in the tables below.

Historical Weather Data

I didn’t find an official source of historical weather data for the London Marathon, but I was able to construct the following table using online historical data.

London Marathon Weather (2014–2018)

Basic Stats: 2018 vs Previous Years

The effect of the heat in 2018 can clearly be seen in the averages. The average time for 2018 is about 20 minutes slower than a “typical” year for both men and women. There are also significantly fewer men under 3:00 and fewer women under 3:30 than in previous years.

Men’s Statistics (Charity, Club, and Ballot categories)

Women’s Statistics (Charity, Club, and Ballot categories)

Conclusion

I don’t think it is surprising to any runner that the hot temperature in 2018 slowed things down, but, for me, it is interesting to look at the magnitude of the effect. I was surprised to see the relative consistency of the averages and standard deviations in the previous years, and I was surprised by the magnitude of the jump in average times this year.

I also think it is interesting to look at the gap in the average times for men and women. The average difference in the mean times is about 35 minutes. However, the recently updated GFA qualifying standards for the London Marathon use a time gap of 45 minutes between the men’s and women’s standards which seems to give an big advantage to women looking to enter future London Marathons!