M70-74 at TCS London Marathon 2026: Cervantes Commands the Podium

• Luis Alfonso Cervantes won the M70-74 group in 3:30:29 (8:02/mi), finishing nearly 5 minutes clear of second place.
• Skender Gashi and Donal Murphy were separated by just 21 seconds for 2nd and 3rd, both clocking 8:13–8:14/mi pace.
• Paul Sanderson was the race's biggest climber in the top five, surging from deep in the men's field through the second half to claim 4th in 3:38:03.
• Martin Milward and Maurice O'Connell finished in an identical displayed time of 3:42:07, though Milward's 7th-place finish confirms he edged O'Connell by the narrowest of margins.

Luis Alfonso Cervantes ran a controlled and confident race from start to finish in cool, breezy London conditions — 56°F and a 14 mph wind that made every mile honest work. His 8:02/mi average held firm across the full 26.2, and his checkpoint data tells the real story: he climbed steadily through the men's field from the halfway point to 35K, then produced his strongest relative segment of the day on the 35K–40K stretch, before a slight fade in the final kilometres that barely dented a lead he'd already made decisive. He crossed in 3:30:29, a winning margin of nearly five minutes over the rest of the M70-74 field of 225.

Behind him, Gashi and Murphy waged a tight battle for the podium's lower steps. Gashi ran a fading second half — his position in the men's field drifted steadily backward after the halfway mark — but he'd banked enough early to hold 2nd in 3:35:25. Murphy, more consistent through the middle segments, couldn't quite reel him in, finishing 3rd in 3:35:46. Twenty-one seconds separated them after more than three and a half hours of running.

Fourth place went to Paul Sanderson, who told perhaps the most compelling positional story in the top ten. Starting deep in the men's field, he spent the entire race moving forward, steadily reeling in rivals from 15K onward and posting a strong 35K–40K split to cement 4th in 3:38:03. David Pitt rounded out the top five in 3:38:54, the two men separated by 51 seconds after a race in which Sanderson was clearly the stronger finisher.