On Sunday, more than 40 Pakistani and overseas Pakistani runners participated in the prestigious London Marathon 2025, one of the six major global marathons. Furqan Masood from Islamabad achieved the honor of being the fastest Pakistani runner, finishing the race in an impressive time of 3 hours, 10 minutes, and 7 seconds.
A member of the Islamabad Running Club, Furqan Masood maintained a strong pace early in the race despite the rising temperatures, which posed a significant challenge. Demonstrating resilience, he crossed the finish line with an overall position of 4,460. Furqan completed the first half of the marathon in 1 hour and 31 minutes, while the second half took him 1 hour and 39 minutes.
Speaking to Geo News after the marathon, Furqan described crossing the finish line as a “memorable experience,” crediting the encouragement of spectators and support from his Islamabad Running Club teammates for motivating him to complete the race. “We are not professional runners, but by representing Pakistan, we aim to inspire others towards a healthier lifestyle,” he added.
In other notable performances, Salman Ilyas, based in the USA, finished with a time of 3:18:33, securing the second-best Pakistani result. Fasih Saleh (3:21:54) and Hamza Saleem (3:23:10), both based in Norway, also delivered outstanding performances. Among the female runners, Pakistani-Norwegian athlete Amy Meer was the fastest, completing the marathon in 3:52:00.
In a historic feat, 64-year-old Hamid Butt from Lahore completed the London Marathon and became the first Pakistani to participate twice in all six Abbott World Marathon Majors (Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, and New York), earning his second “Six Star Medal” with a time of 3:41:45.
Full Results of Pakistani Runners:
- Furqan Masood – 3:10:07
- Salman Ilyas – 3:18:33
- Muhammad Fasih Saleh – 3:21:54
- Hamza Saleem – 3:23:10
- Shah Syed – 3:23:12
- Hamid Butt – 3:41:45
- Raees Ibrahim – 3:42:46
- Aamir Butt – 3:50:10
- Amy Meer – 3:52:00
- Adnan Uzair – 3:52:23
- Imran Khan – 4:02:46
- Zaheer Akbar – 4:05:24
- Atique Hassan – 4:09:43
- Abu Bakr Muhammad Afzal – 4:12:44
- Haseeb Usmani – 4:20:20
- Hira Diwan – 4:25:33
- Alai Nasir – 4:28:33
- Kamran Abbasi – 4:31:38
- Raja Arifullah Khan – 4:35:29
- Imran Zafar – 4:37:11
- Shakeel Khan – 4:38:27
- Nadeem Iqbal – 4:44:05
- Khalid Sheikh – 4:52:11
- Ayesha Akhtar – 4:56:09
- Maria Adil – 5:09:59
- Taha Ghafoor – 5:10:43
- Faisal Saif – 5:12:50
- Samina Khan – 5:18:02
- Saniyah Zafar – 5:23:01
- Junaid Memon – 5:27:21
- Daniyal Mumtaz – 5:33:00
- Alina Ali – 5:34:02
- Ahsan Ahmed – 5:34:59
- Muhammad Yousaf Malik – 5:35:49
- Mona Khan – 5:35:50
- Maryam Zahra – 5:36:49
- Hira Mufti – 5:47:03
- Muhammad Umar – 5:49:44
- Zawar Khan – 6:02:50
- Hamad Ali – 6:04:11
- Mazhar Ibad Lari – 6:25:00
- Shazia Nawaz – 6:30:34
Meanwhile, in the Manchester Marathon held on the same day, Danish Raza from Karachi and his son Abrar Ahmed completed the marathon in 4 hours and 55 minutes. Azmat Khan, representing the UAE, was the top Pakistani finisher with a time of 3:15:48, while Saadia Haq finished in 3:45:35.
