New Balance serves up its 2026 London Marathon training range inside London’s oldest pie and mash shop

It’s January, which hopefully means that if you were one of the lucky people to get the ‘you’re in!’ email last summer, you should already be in the thick of training for the TCS 2026 London Marathon. Or at least starting it after waiting until Christmas and New Year snacking was out of the way.

Marathon training is hard full stop. Add in trying to squeeze in runs on bitterly cold early mornings or braving rain-lashed conditions to get training done after work and before dinner. Whatever your running level is, getting yourself out the door right now is a challenge in itself.

New Balance knows it’s tough to get out there too. That’s why one of the main sponsors for a marathon that drew a record 1.1 million entries is hoping to make kicking off your session a bit easier to do.

New Balance has officially launched its TCS London Marathon training range, which will let everyone you pass on the pavement know that you’re running it in April. It’s also designed to give runners the features and technology they can truly find useful. So, where do you launch a London-centric apparel collection? Well, only in the Capital's oldest pie and mash shop of course.

Mashing the marathon

Why did New Balance pick M.Manze, a pie and mash shop that’s over 100 years old? There’s a few reasons. The first is location. It’s situated on Tower Bridge Road. For those London Marathon participants who have already done their homework, that's roughly around the halfway point of the course. You probably won’t be gasping for some liquor at that point. The other reason is community. This is a pie and mash shop that’s been a community hub for decades. New Balance wants its latest range to tap into that community spirit that’s now firmly built around the running scene.

So what can you expect to find in that training range? You can pretty much kit yourself out from top to toe in London emblazoned attire with that all-important official London Marathon branding in tow.

Standout pieces include New Balance’s Heat Grid Half Zip, a long sleeve that features NB Heat technology to offer a boost of warmth on chillier days. There’s room for a zipped pocket to stash away training run essentials and sleeves that usefully turn into mitts, saving you rummaging through drawers and other coats to find a complete pair of gloves.

New Balance’s high vis-looking London Edition Marathon Jacket uses fabrics designed to provide ample defence against the wind and the rain, while making sure you have the freedom to move without material getting in your way. You’ll also find generous areas of reflective taping placed in key areas to make sure you can be spotted when running at night or in quieter locations.

The RC Pocket leggings and tights are built to provide support and better warmth than pulling on a pair of shorts in sub zero-like running conditions. They feature fast-drying technology for when you get caught in a downpour and ensure you have somewhere suitable to store away your phone. The leggings include a phone-friendly side pocket and the tights move that storage to the rear and into a zipped pocket.

Route to the finish line

On those days when you’re not training and focusing on recovery, but still want to remind people that you’ll be on that start line come April 26th, there’s both a London Edition hoodie and t-shirt. Both offer colourful nods to New Balance’s upcoming racing apparel line, which launches on March 1st. That’s when you can expect to see bolder patterns in play for race day. If you want to complete the London look, New Balance also includes shorts, socks, singlets in the range along with London-themed versions of its 1080v15 and SuperComp Elite V5 running shoes.

The entire TCS London Marathon Collection is available now from the New Balance website and select stores, with prices ranging from £40 up to £230 if you want a pair of those speedy Elite V5 shoes on your feet.

If you’re running in April and need to head to the marathon expo, the good news is you’ll also be able to pick up the training range as well as the racing one, after or before you pick up that all-important race bib. You’ll have to pick up your celebratory jellied eels at the back at the halfway point at Tower Bridge though.

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