Lisa Hart Runs Down the Field to Win F18-39 at TCS London Marathon 2026

• Hart wins in 2:30:16 (5:44/mi), climbing from 5th among women at the halfway mark to 1st by 40K — a relentless second-half surge that sealed a 1:34 margin over Chelsea Baker.
• Baker's 40K→Finish sprint: she posted the fastest women's closing split of anyone in the field on that final stretch, rocketing from 3rd to 2nd and finishing in 2:31:50 (5:47/mi).
• Weston and Wallace were the day's great climbers: Rebecca Weston started 14th among women and finished 5th (2:34:42); Brogan Wallace started 18th and finished 6th (2:35:01), with the 5th-fastest women's split on the second half.
• Rosie Hamilton-James and Lauren Kelly both clocked 2:40:14 to land 15th and 16th respectively in the F18-39 age group — the timing strip separated them where the clock couldn't.

Overcast skies and a 14 mph breeze made for honest racing conditions across London's streets, and the F18-39 age group — 14,744 finishers strong — delivered a gripping front-end battle. Lisa Hart was never out of contention, sitting 5th among women through the first half, but it was her second-half execution that wrote the headline. She climbed to 2nd by 20K, held it, and then broke clear to lead by 40K, crossing in 2:30:16 at a 5:44/mi clip. Her first-half split was already the 2nd-fastest among women — she simply didn't let up.

Chelsea Baker told a different story: patient in the early miles (7th among women at 5K, 8th at 10K), she threaded her way through the field with a methodical climb before uncorking the fastest women's closing split from 40K to the finish. That burst brought her home in 2:31:50, 1:34 behind Hart — a gap that reflects how decisively Hart had already built her lead before Baker's finishing kick arrived.

Holly Archer rounded out the podium in 2:33:44 (5:52/mi), having run the 6th-fastest women's split on the 15K–20K segment — a mid-race surge that moved her from 9th to 7th among women and set the platform for her 3rd-place finish. Behind her, Rebecca Weston (2:34:42) and Brogan Wallace (2:35:01) completed a top five that was almost entirely built on second-half momentum, with Katrina Ballantyne (2:35:32) and Charlie Arnell (2:35:42) rounding out a tightly bunched group through 7th.