Here’s where it gets fun. If you smash the world record on the London course, you’ll pocket an additional $55,000 bonus. That’s a total of $110,000 for a single race. Suddenly, that 26.2 miles feels a lot more profitable, doesn’t it?
But don’t go buying a yacht just yet. The current world records are absurdly fast. The men’s record is 2:00:35 (set by Kelvin Kiptum), and the women’s is 2:11:53 (set by Tigst Assefa). Good luck running that fast after a few beers the night before—but hey, we can dream!
If you’re just a mortal and not a cyborg runner, don’t worry. There are plenty of other prizes for the rest of us—if “the rest of us” run at Olympic level, that is.