TCS London Marathon 2026: Lisa Compton Wins a Razor-Close F70-74 Showdown

• Four seconds. That was all that separated 1st from 2nd — Compton 4:16:07, Allison 4:16:11 — across 26.2 miles in the F70-74 age group.
• Compton and Allison both averaged 9:46 per mile, making this as even a race as the clock could produce without being a true tie.
• Deborah Lazaroff claimed 3rd in 4:23:00 (10:02/mi), nearly seven minutes back — the podium gap was far wider than the one at the top.
• 115 women finished in the F70-74 age group, with the top 20 all breaking 5:05 on a cool, breezy London morning.

The headline writes itself: four seconds over a marathon. Lisa Compton and Jacqui Allison ran what amounted to a shadow race, stride for stride in average pace, yet their journeys through the field looked nothing alike. Allison came through the early miles near the front of the women's field — sitting around 5,577th among all women after 5K — and gradually drifted back as the race wore on, arriving at the finish ranked 7,868th among women. Compton took the opposite route, starting deep in the pack (near 10,496th among women at 5K) and steadily climbing, cresting as high as 7,801st before a slight fade on the final stretch. Two completely different tactical arcs, same finishing clock — almost.

That "almost" is what matters. Compton crossed first, and the places are authoritative. Her strongest segment came between 30K and 35K, where she posted one of the more competitive splits of her race. Allison's best work was up front, with a strong 5K–10K split. The fact that neither could shake the other over 26.2 miles is a testament to how evenly matched these two were on this particular Sunday.

Deborah Lazaroff ran a patient race in reverse — fast early (a strong 5K–10K split), then gradually working through the field in the back half to secure 3rd in 4:23:00. Jan Baker (4th, 4:25:08) and Geraldine Stapleton (5th, 4:27:52) rounded out the top five, with Baker producing a notably strong 40K-to-finish kick. Behind them, the field spread steadily, with Ruth Warren through Caroline Woodford all finishing between 4:30 and 4:44 — a tight cluster of competitive racing deep into the age group.