Did You Miss The Break In The Men’s Race At The 2015 London Marathon? The Mystery Behind The One Minute Of Missing TV Coverage Explained

2015 London Marathon - Virgin Money London Marathon

by LetsRun.com
April 26, 2015

Many people who got up early to watch the 2015 Virgin Money London Marathon were a bit miffed today when they missed a key move in the men’s race. Don’t blame whichever TV outlet you were watching – all of them missed the break. They just didn’t explain what happened.

Here we tell you what happened during the one minute that was lost at the 2015 London Marathon.

Article continues below player.

Just before 24 miles, at the 1:53:18 mark, the leading four runners of Wilson Kipsang, Dennis Kimetto, Eliud Kipchoge and Stanley Biwott went into the Blackfriars Underpass and tv coverage was lost. 59 seconds later, Wilson Kipsang and Eliud Kipchoge came out ahead of the other two. The problem is the international TV feed didn’t show the runners going into the underpass (the BBC Elite feed did) and there was no explanation by the announcers so most people didn’t understand what was going on.

Here are some screenshots of the runners going into and coming out of the tunnel so you can see for yourself what happened (click for larger image):

The final four – Wilson Kipsang, Dennis Kimetto, Eliud Kipchoge and Stanley Biwott

They head into the tunnel

The top two emerge

A 4:41 hilly 24th mile was too much for everyone but these two

So there you have it. The missing minute explained.

The leading duo ran the 24th mile in 4:41 – very impressive considering the hills involved.

We found this YouTube clip of what the underpass is like to run through for the runners. The hill proved to be decisive. This is where the break was made: