London Marathon sets record after 1.8% of UK adult population applies for 2027 race
The London Marathon has set yet more records with organisers announcing that 1.8% of the UK adult population – more than one million people – have applied to run in next year’s race.Running’s boom wasreflected in a world record 1,338,544 global application for the 2027 London Marathon – up from 1.13m for this year’s race and more than double the amount they received in 2024.The extraordinary figures were welcomed by the London Marathon CEO, Hugh Brasher, who said: “This astonishing total of more than 1.
33 million ballot applicants firmly establishes London as the world’s most sought‑after marathon.Nothing else comes close.“Our mission is to inspire people of every age and ability to get active – and these extraordinary numbers show the massive draw and power of the London Marathon.”Organisers said they had received 1,008,091 entries from the UK – topping the million barrier for the first time – with another 330,450 entries coming from 200 countries around the globe.There was near parity between female and male applicants.
Notably the largest number of applications came from women aged 20-29 – with more than 179,000 in that age group applying – reflecting the popularity of running among member of generation Z,Ballot results will be announced by early July, with places allocated through a random draw,Most applicants are likely to be disappointed given fewer than 20,000 people usually get a place through the ballot,However, organisers are hoping to the go-ahead by the end of the month to stage a two-day London Marathon in 2027, which would mean two mass participation races and nearly double the number of people running to about 100,000 people,The 2026 marathon had a record 59,830 finishers and was the biggest annual one-day fundraising event in the world.
It also made global headlines with Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe running 1hr 59 mins 30s to become the first man to break the two‑hour barrier in a competitive marathon, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa set a world record for a women’s race without male pacemakers.
Stock markets are wobbling, but £10bn cash bids at fat premiums can still happen
It was a bad day for the FTSE 100 index on Tuesday – down 1.4% – but the puzzle in many quarters is why share prices haven’t fallen further since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran. The index is still up by a couple of percentage points since new year, which is not a bet most would have made at the time if they had been told an inflationary energy price shock lay around the corner.An absence of Iran-related corporate profits warnings partly explains the relative resilience, even if those usually take a while to arrive. So, too, the fact that the Footsie is overpopulated with overseas earners for whom the US economy, which isn’t suffering Europe’s soaring natural gas prices, matters more than their home market
UK 30-year borrowing costs hit highest since 1998 amid oil price surge and political uncertainty – as it happened
Time to wrap up…The UK government’s long-term borrowing costs have hit their highest level since 1998, amid rising fuel prices and concerns about political stability.The yield – effectively the interest rate – on 30-year UK government bonds (gilts) hit 5.77% at lunchtime on Tuesday, up 0.13 percentage points – exceeding the 27-year high reached last September.Yields have been rising across leading economies amid renewed fears over rising inflation, after US efforts to escort ships through the strait of Hormuz prompted Iranian reprisals
HSBC profits fall amid $400m fraud-related charge and Iran war
HSBC has taken a $1.3bn (£961m) hit to profits, amid the fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran and fraud in the troubled private credit sector.The London-headquartered bank said profits fell 4% in the first three months of the year, dropping $100m to $9.4bn, compared with the same period in 2025. Revenue increased 6% to $18
New threat to Labour spending plans as UK long-term borrowing costs hit highest level since 1998
The risk to Labour’s tax and spending plans from the war in Iran was underscored on Tuesday, as long-term government borrowing costs hit their highest level since 1998.Fears of higher inflation as a result of the conflict have fuelled a selloff across government bond markets, which City analysts say has been exacerbated in the UK by uncertainty about the future of Keir Starmer’s government.The yield – effectively the interest rate – on 30-year UK government bonds (gilts) hit 5.77% on Tuesday – exceeding the 27-year high reached last September.Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz, said he was “concerned for the health of the UK economy”, after the latest market moves
UK electric car sales leap ‘could be hit by Iran war inflation and energy price rises’
A recent jump in electric car sales in the UK is likely to be “tempered” by worries over rising inflation and energy prices caused by the Iran war, a leading industry body has warned.New car sales in the UK rose by 24% year on year to 149,247 in April, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).The trade body said battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales jumped by 59.1% last month and the two millionth electric car had been registered. They accounted for more than a quarter (26
Australians are poorer because of war on the other side of the world – Michele Bullock’s logic is hard to fault
As far as rallying cries go, Michele Bullock’s “we are poorer, and there is no way out of that” leaves a lot to be desired.It’s not going to win you any applause, particularly when you’re the governor of a central bank that has just announced a third rate hike.But as a blunt way to describe what the US-Israel war on Iran means for everyday households, it’s hard to fault.“Australians are poorer because of this shock to oil prices and energy prices and all the other commodity prices that are being impacted,” Bullock told journalists.“So yes, we are all feeling poorer
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