‘I'm not even going to pretend I enjoyed it because I absolutely did not’ – Laura Kenny among former cyclists who excelled at London Marathon

Dame Laura Kenny poses with her medal after completing the 2026 TCS London Marathon — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Among the 59,000 runners taking part in the 2026 London Marathon on Sunday was an impressive scattering of former elite bike riders, including multiple Olympic gold medallist Dame Laura Kenny.

Kenny finished the infamously gruelling 26.2-mile course on the Mall in London (where the team time trial third stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will happen during the double Grand Départ in 2027) in 3:45:05, coming within 2 minutes of beating her husband Sir Jason Kenny’s time in the same race last year.

Talking to national papers prior to the big event, Kelly described her transition from track cycling, where everything is about power and precision, to running, where you can escape into your own headspace – at least during the training stages – something she sorely needed after a tough few post-retirement years.

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On Sunday her mum and dad, Glenda and Adrian Trott, were on the sidelines with the Kennys’ young daughter Lily, who is still being breastfed. After the race Laura posted a photo of her feeding Lilly, and didn't hold back about how hard the run had been.

“London marathon: Completed it!” she wrote. “Not even going to pretend I enjoyed it because I absolutely did not! Got round in 3.45 after a typical Laura pacing job. But I ran for a cause SO close to our hearts.”

Chris Newton poses for a photo ahead of participating in The Virgin London Marathon on April 22, 2018 — Chris newton before the 2018 London marathon

Kenny was in good company, too. Fellow Olympian and track cyclist Dani Rowe (who has an Olympic gold medal, three World Championships titles, and two European Championship titles to her name) finished the marathon with a finish time of 3:07:43.

And Chris Newton – who rode at the Atlanta, Sydney Athens and Beijing Games (collecting a silver and two bronze medals en route) before taking up running in a serious way – crossed the finish line in London with a time of 2:34:42. He can add that medal to his haul of bling, which includes seven UCI Track Cycling World Championships medals (two world titles among them) and three Commonwealth Games medals.

Mind you, he's going to have to up his game if he wants to beat former Visma–Lease a Bike rider-turned runner Tom Dumoulin, who can boast about a sub-2:30-hour finish in the Amsterdam Marathon (as well as a Giro d'Italia win and nine stage victories across the Grand Tours, plus five World Championship medals and two Olympic silvers).

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Having recently clipped in as News & Features Writer for Cycling Weekly, Pat has spent decades in the saddle of road, gravel and mountain bikes pursuing interesting stories. En route he has ridden across Australia's Great Dividing Range, pedalled the Pirinexus route around the Catalan Pyrenees, raced through the Norwegian mountains with 17,000 other competitors during the Birkebeinerrittet, fatbiked along the coast of Wales, explored the trails of the Canadian Yukon under the midnight sun and spent umpteen happy hours bikepacking and cycle-touring the lost lanes and hidden bridleways of the Peak District, Exmoor, Dartmoor, North Yorkshire and Scotland. He worked for Lonely Planet for 15 years as a writer and editor, contributed to Epic Rides of the World and has authored several books.