Former London Marathon winner Paula Radcliffe is watching her 18-year-old daughter Isla make it three generations of the family to run the famous race in the capital
Paula Radcliffe’s daughter Isla is running her first London Marathon at the age of 18. However, her famous mother – who won the race herself during a decorated career – wanted her to wait a year first.
Isla, who will be one of the youngest competitors, was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 13. Her experience and recovery inspired her to run for the charity Children With Cancer UK, and she spoke to the BBC about her decision to run this year rather than waiting any longer.
“Last year I was here and I saw the atmosphere and it was a bit on a whim,” Isla told presenter Gabby Logan. “I wanted to just run it, to be a part of the atmosphere, and obviously also for the charity.
When asked what advice Paula offeres, the answere was an honest one. “She said do it next year!” the teenager continued. “She’s like ‘you need a year for your studies, maybe this is a bit too soon’ but I wanted to be 18 and be the youngest, to be kind of like a child to do it.”
Isla also indicated she was perhaps a little less prepared than she might be. “Not really. I’m lacking the training but it will be okay, hopefully,” she added.
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Paula recognised her daughter might not have done the level of preparation she might have done in her own runs as an elite competitor but that didn’t matter. “The one thing that we know with Isla is when she sets her mind on doing something then she will 100 percent go at it,” she said.
“Yes, she could have done more training, she could have been more prepared, but I’m extremely proud of her for taking on this challenge and seeing it through.
“It’s actually Isla who pointed out to me that it’s now 40 years since my dad ran it and I watched Ingrid Kristiansen set that world record and was inspired to run the marathon. It’s 10 years since I retired, it’s 20 years since I set the women’s only world best in 2005, and now she’s here completing three generations.”
A record number of runners went into the ballot for the 2025 London Marathon, with more than 840,000 people applying. It represented an increase of more than a quarter of a million on the previous year’s ballot.
It is estimated that around 56,000 runners will begin the race in South-East London, and the overwhelming majority of those who start the race will go on to finish it. In addition to those runners who have been successful in the ballot, thousands more will be running for charities.
There is also a strong elite field, made up of those athletes pushing to win the event. The late Kelvin Kiptum holds the men’s record for the event with a time of 2:01:25 in 2023, while Paula Radcliffe’s 2:15:25 – set in the 2003 edition – remains the women’s record.
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