F75-79 at TCS London Marathon 2026: Garner leads wire to wire

• Susan Garner won the F75-79 age group in 5:20:28 (12:13/mi), finishing more than six minutes clear of runner-up Ann Bowles.
• Ann Bowles crossed in 5:26:35 (12:27/mi) for second, with Maria Angeles Emmerson just 49 seconds further back in third at 5:38:44 (12:55/mi).
• The tightest battle of the day: Emmerson and Que Pham (4th, 5:39:33) were separated by only 49 seconds at the finish — but it was Pham who faded in the final stretch while Emmerson ran the stronger 40K-to-finish split.
• Sandra Stewart (5th, 5:45:50) was the day's biggest mover, climbing from 23,475th among women at 5K all the way to 20,180th by the finish, posting one of the stronger 35K–40K splits in her group.

Seventeen women in the F75-79 age group took on 26.2 miles through London under cool, breezy conditions — 56°F with a 14 mph wind — and Susan Garner made it look like a controlled masterclass. She ran 12:13/mi from the gun, and her gender ranking actually tightened between 10K and 40K before the inevitable settling of a big field in the closing miles. She was never seriously threatened.

Ann Bowles ran a steady 12:27/mi to hold second, though her gender ranking drifted progressively through the second half, suggesting the back end of the course took its toll. Emmerson, meanwhile, was moving in the opposite direction — she climbed from 20,279th among women at 30K to 19,354th by the finish, her 40K-to-finish split ranking among the stronger closing efforts in the women's field. That late surge was just enough to hold off Que Pham, who had posted a quicker 35K–40K split but couldn't sustain it to the tape.

Further back, the range of the age group tells its own story. Karen Schou Pedersen (6th, 6:14:55) and Elsie Walmsley (7th, 6:47:00) represent a substantial step back from the top five, and the field stretched all the way to Pritpal Harzall, who crossed the line in 10:09:23 — a remarkable commitment to finishing a marathon at any pace. All 17 starters became finishers, and on a blustery April day in London, that counts for plenty.