(Reuters) - The London Marathon is set to break the world record for the most participants with over 56,000 runners expected to complete the April 27 race, organisers said on Thursday.
The current record of 55,646 finishers was set by the New York City Marathon last November.
London organisers said they had received a record 840,318 applications for the ballot to enter this year's race, with just under half of the applications coming for women.
"The 45th edition is a landmark year for us, and it would be wonderful to mark that by becoming the biggest marathon ever staged anywhere in the world," London Marathon CEO Hugh Brasher said in a statement on Thursday.
Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, the Olympic champion from Rio and Tokyo, returns to the race for the first time since 2020, while women's world record holder Ruth Chepngetich and Olympic champion Sifan Hassan have also been confirmed for the event.
(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
