Apple to Host Free Events in London Ahead of April 26 Marathon - MacRumors
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Apple to Host Free Events in London Ahead of April 26 Marathon

Apple today announced a series of events tied to this year's TCS London Marathon, with the company serving as an official partner of the race.

london marathon apple watch
The TCS London Marathon is one of the world's most popular marathons and takes place on Sunday, April 26, drawing athletes of all abilities from around the world. A record-breaking one million people applied to enter the ballot for the 2026 event.

Apple will host two free events at its Brompton Road store in the days before the race. On Thursday, April 23, a panel including fitness trainer Joe Wicks, ultramarathon runner Hellah Sidibe, and athletes Dora Atim, Becky Briggs, and Sherica Holmon will offer training tips before a 5K shakeout run in Hyde Park, hosted by Apple Fitness+ trainer Cory Wharton-Malcolm. Spots are limited and registration is now open.

On Saturday, April 25, former marathon world-record holder Paula Radcliffe and two-time Olympian Chris Thompson will record a live episode of their podcast, Paula's Run Club, also at Brompton Road, joined by Wharton-Malcolm. The episode closes out their "Road to London Marathon" series. Registration is available for that event as well.

On race day, Apple Music will station artists and DJs at a key point on the course. An official Ultimate Marathon Playlist spanning seven hours is available now on ‌Apple Music‌, with additional mixes from race-day DJs to follow after the event.

Ahead of marathon week, Apple will host a PE with Apple: Hour of Play event for students from six schools in the London borough of Wandsworth, with Wicks and Fitness+ trainers leading physical activities for children ages 10 to 14, in partnership with nonprofit Enable. Apple also pointed out that it supports several other Greater London organizations, including Battersea Arts Centre, Southbank Centre, Youth Battersea, and Wandsworth BEST.

Top Rated Comments

DocMultimedia Avatar
4 hours ago at 09:20 am

My sister’s running it this year at 53!
My best ever is when I was 56. 😀 Now I'm 64. Will never run a 3:19 again. Good luck to her. Hopefully the weather is nice.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
4 hours ago at 09:29 am

They sponsor a marathon yet their Ultra smartwatches' battery life barely last for a marathon when using LTE. Embarassing.

Source: I am an athlete and this is the case with the Ultra 3 for me.
When i run with my AWU3 everything on, it uses 10% pr. Hour. I use a Garmin HRM, and no music.
So in theory, it should last about 8-9 hours.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MOFS Avatar
4 hours ago at 09:29 am

I would think you'd want as much data from a sports watch during a marathon wouldn't you? I'm sure something is up with their watch, but not getting HR data during a run would be a non-starter for me. I'd disable notifications first.
HR data shouldn’t need LTE as it would be collected over Bluetooth? I’m not an athlete and did a very slow half marathon (4 hours) with an old Watch series 7 and cellular and comfortably had enough battery whilst wearing a heart rate monitor and planning music via my Watch. Even if you add a pedometer I’d be surprised if the battery ran out.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
5 hours ago at 07:57 am

I've never gotten in that one. One of these days I'll sneak in to the lottery. Hopefully before my body can't run...
My sister’s running it this year at 53!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
2 hours ago at 11:12 am

HR data shouldn’t need LTE as it would be collected over Bluetooth? I’m not an athlete and did a very slow half marathon (4 hours) with an old Watch series 7 and cellular and comfortably had enough battery whilst wearing a heart rate monitor and planning music via my Watch. Even if you add a pedometer I’d be surprised if the battery ran out.
Think you responded to the wrong person. I was saying why you'd want HR data while running a marathon, not why it would need LTE.

The person I was responding to was discussing disabling performance data while running which isn't really an option. If it is, then you shouldn't be using the watch at all.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jarman92 Avatar
2 hours ago at 11:02 am

Something is definitely wrong with Apple Watch, yes, with the subpar battery life.

Also I run marathons in sub 2:45, and this is still an issue.
Not Apple Watch in general, I’m saying something is clearly wrong with your Apple Watch—contact Apple Support.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)