2022 London Marathon – What to expect from Strava
The 2022 London Marathon hits the streets of the capital this weekend and there should, as always, be an excellent turnout providing the train strikes don’t interfere with people’s plans too much.
Strava has analysed stats from last year to offer some insights on what to expect this year. There were around 80,000 runners last year if you add together those doing the real and virtual events. More than half of those logged the ride on Strava…an impressive stat.
It seems that using Strava makes you faster 😉 The average time by a Strava user was 4:19:54 compared to the overall average of 4:22:50, which probably means that the average time for a non-Strava user was about 4:25:30. Strava makes you almost 5 minutes faster. So if you haven’t got a Strava account yet you know what to do. Forget the Nike AirFlys and just sign up for Strava. Simple. Perhaps. Maybe. (It’s not.)
8% of Strava users registered a sub-3-hour finish time whereas another 7% of men came in just short of 3 hours, below 3 hours 5 minutes. More than one in ten women logged Strava times of under 3 hours 35 minutes.
Turning to the route itself, watch out for mile four and don’t go too hard on mile 5. Mile four is the slowest with an average time of 11:39 whereas Mile 5 boasts an average time of 09:01. Someone needs a Stryd to pace the efforts more evenly.
What is the best Marathon Watch?
It’s almost certainly too late to get one now but the best tech to use for a marathon is INaccurate tech. Studies from a few years back showed that if your watch was wrong and underestimated your speed by ‘a bit’ you actually would run faster.
In which case the Apple Watch Ultra is a good one to go for. Maybe it’s a tad heavy even though it’s made of titanium and you might want a good old-fashioned plastic watch like the Coros Pace 2 or Garmin Forerunner 255, both excellent lightweight choices. The other great option is a Polar Pacer Pro.
Last Updated on 28 May 2026 by the5krunner
My favourite kit and nutrition
- Maurten — the race nutrition trusted by elite athletes. Gels and drink mix engineered to be easy on the stomach.
- Garmin 90-degree charging adapter — the small adapter that keeps your charging cable tidy at the stem. Essential for race day.
- Garmin charging puck — the fastest and most reliable way to top up your Garmin before a session.
- Ravemen FR300 — front light that mounts directly under your Garmin or Wahoo head unit. Keeps your bars clean and your beam pointed where it matters.
- Garmin Varia RTL515 — radar rear light that alerts you to vehicles approaching from behind. Pairs with your Edge or Garmin watch.
- Stryd — the footpod that brings running power to your Garmin. The single most useful running upgrade I have made.
- Favero Assioma Pro RS2 — the power meter pedals most serious cyclists end up choosing. Accurate, easy to move between bikes.
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tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors. ID
