London Marathon

Runners surge out of the Blackfriars Bridge underpass onto the Victoria Embankment; two miles to go

The London Marathon is a road marathon that has been held each year in London since 1981, usually in April. In addition to being one of the top five international marathons run over the traditional distance of 42.195 km (26 miles and 385 yards), it is also a large, celebratory sporting festival. An unusual feature is the very large amounts of money raised for charity, much more than other marathons.^[1] According to the race organisers, it is now the largest annual fund raising event in the world with the 2006 participants raising over £41.5million for charity, bringing the total amount raised for charity by runners, to a grand total of £315 million.^[2]. In 2007, 78% of all runners raised money. It is one of the World Marathon Majors, a two-year series of elite marathon racing that also includes the Boston, Chicago, New York and Berlin marathons.

History

The London Marathon was founded by former Olympic champion and renowned journalist Chris Brasher, who was influenced by the New York Marathon and aspired to establish a race of this scale. In the 1908 Olympics, the length of the course was 26 miles 385 yards to White City, thus setting the standard length of modern marathons ever since. The London Marathon came into existence on March 29, 1981, when nearly 7,500 athletes participated in the race. Its popularity has steadily grown. In 2007, 36,396 people started the marathon, which is the biggest field since the race began. As many as 125,000 people originally applied to run and 49,963 applications were accepted.^[3] The race is currently organised by former 10,000m world record holder David Bedford. Bedford has overseen a period of great change for the race, including amendments to the course in 2005 which saw the famous cobbled section by the Tower of London replaced with a flat stretch along the Highway.^[4] Whilst it is a serious athletic event, with large prize money attracting elite athletes, public perception of the race is dominated by club and fun runners.Only the summer British 10K race closes the centre of London similarly to the marathon. Sometimes in ludicrous fancy dress and often collecting money for charity, these make up the bulk of the 30,000+ runners and help to draw crowds of half a million on the streets. Nine people have died in relation to running the London Marathon since the event began, with the most recent being a 22-year-old man^[5] who died of hyponatremia^[6]. On April 19, 2003, former boxer Michael Watson, who had been told he would never be able to walk again after a fight with Chris Eubank, made headlines by finishing the marathon in six days, becoming a national hero in England. In 2006 Sir Steve Redgrave (winner of five consecutive Olympic Gold Medals) set a new Guinness World Record for money raised through a marathon by collecting £1.8 million in sponsorship. This broke the record set the previous year by the founder of the Oasis Trust, Steve Chalke MBE, who had collected over £1.25 million. Steve Chalke recovered the record in 2007, raising at least £1.85 million.^[7] A small number of runners known as "the Ever Presents" have completed each of the London Marathons since 1981. They are all male and by 2007 their number had shrunk to 24. The oldest runner among them is 80 year old Reg Burbidge, the youngest runner is Chris Finill is 48. The ever-present runners are:

For more information visit www.everpresent.org.uk^[8]

Course description

The course starts in three separate points around Blackheath at 115ft above sea level, on the south of the Thames. All the runners eventually converging in Woolwich where the Royal Artillery Barracks is passed, the route descending from 140ft to 35ft over a period of half a mile. At approximately 6 ½ miles runners go around the Cutty Sark in Greenwich. Then the course goes through Surrey Quays, Bermondsey and along Jamaica Road before reaching Tower Bridge at around 12 miles. The runners then cross the Thames, turning east along The Highway through Wapping to the Isle of Dogs, before returning back along The Highway passing the Tower of London at 22 ½ miles. The route now follows the Thames along the Embankment up to the Houses of Parliament where it turns toward St James's Park and Buckingham Palace, finishing in The Mall. It is the only Marathon course in the world that is run in two hemispheres, both the East and West, as the full course crosses the Prime Meridian in Greenwich.

Results

Finishers' medal 2007, front (left) and back (right)

Run over a largely flat course around the River Thames, the London Marathon is generally regarded as a very competitive and unpredictable event, and conducive to fast times. The record times are shown in bold below and also highlighted in the history tables:

• 2:05:38 for men (Khalid Khannouchi, USA) in 2002 and
• 2:15:25 for women (Paula Radcliffe, UK) in 2003.

Men's race

Winning times for the London Marathon Men’s race

Year	Athlete	Country	Time
1981	Inge Simonsen Dick Beardsley		2:11:48 (dead heat)
1982	Hugh Jones		2:09:24
1983	Mike Gratton		2:09:43
1984	Charlie Spedding		2:09:57
1985	Steve Jones		2:08:16
1986	Toshihiko Seko		2:10:02
1987	Hiromi Taniguchi		2:09:50
1988	Henrik Jørgensen		2:10:20
1989	Douglas Wakiihuri		2:09:03
1990	Allister Hutton		2:10:10
1991	Yakov Tolstikov		2:09:17
1992	António Pinto		2:10:02
1993	Eamonn Martin		2:10:50
1994	Dionicio Cerón		2:08:53
1995	Dionicio Cerón		2:08:30
1996	Dionicio Cerón		2:10:00
1997	António Pinto		2:07:55
1998	Abel Antón		2:07:57
1999	Abdelkader El Mouaziz		2:07:57
2000	António Pinto		2:06:36
2001	Abdelkader El Mouaziz		2:07:09
2002	Khalid Khannouchi		2:05:38 (Men's World Record)
2003	Gezahegne Abera		2:07:56
2004	Evans Rutto		2:06:18
2005	Martin Lel		2:07:35
2006	Felix Limo		2:06:39
2007	Martin Lel		2:07:41[9]

Graph of the winning times for the London Marathon Men’s race

Women's race

Winning times for the London Marathon Women’s race

Year	Athlete	Country	Time
1981	Joyce Smith		2:29:57
1982	Joyce Smith		2:29:43
1983	Grete Waitz		2:25:29
1984	Ingrid Kristiansen		2:24:26
1985	Ingrid Kristiansen		2:21:06
1986	Grete Waitz		2:24:54
1987	Ingrid Kristiansen		2:22:48
1988	Ingrid Kristiansen		2:25:41
1989	Véronique Marot		2:25:56
1990	Wanda Panfil		2:26:31
1991	Rosa Mota		2:26:14
1992	Katrin Dörre-Heinig		2:29:39
1993	Katrin Dörre-Heinig		2:27:09
1994	Katrin Dörre-Heinig		2:32:34
1995	Małgorzata Sobańska		2:27:43
1996	Liz McColgan		2:27:54
1997	Joyce Chepchumba		2:26:51
1998	Catherina McKiernan		2:26:26
1999	Joyce Chepchumba		2:23:22
2000	Tegla Laroupe		2:24:33
2001	Derartu Tulu		2:23:57
2002	Paula Radcliffe		2:18:56
2003	Paula Radcliffe		2:15:25 (Women's World Record)
2004	Margaret Okayo		2:22:35
2005	Paula Radcliffe		2:17:42 (Women Only World Best)
2006	Deena Kastor		2:19:35
2007	Zhou Chunxiu		2:20:38[10]

Graph of the winning times for the London Marathon Women’s race

Men's wheelchair race

Winning times for the London Marathon Men’s wheelchair race

Year	Athlete	Country	Time
1983	Gordon Perry		3:20:07
1984	Kevin Breen		2:38:40
1985	Chris Hallam		2:19:53
1986	Gerry O'Rourke		2:26:38
1987	Chris Hallam		2:08:34
1988	Ted Vince		2:01:37
1989	David Holding		1:59:31
1990	Hakan Ericsson		1:57:12
1991	Farid Amarouch		1:52:52
1992	Daniel Wesley		1:51:42
1993	George Vandamme		1:44:10
1994	David Holding		1:46:06
1995	Heinz Frei		1:39:14
1996	David Holding		1:43:48
1997	David Holding		1:42:15
1998	Heinz Frei		1:35:18
1999	Heinz Frei		1:35:27
2000	Kein Papworth		1:41:50
2001	Denis Lemeunier		1:42:37
2002	David Weir		1:39:44
2003	Joel Jeannot		1:32:02
2004	Saúl Mendoza		1:36:56
2005	Saúl Mendoza		1:35:51
2006	David Weir		1:29:48
2007	David Weir		1:30:51

Women's wheelchair race

Winning times for the London Marathon Women’s wheelchair race

Year	Athlete	Country	Time
1983	Denise Smith		4:29:03
1984	Kay McShane		3:10:04
1985	Kay McShane		2:47:12
1986	Kay McShane		3:02:40
1987	Karen Davidson		2:45:30
1988	Karen Davidson		2:41:45
1989	Josie Cidhockyj		3:03:54
1990	Connie Hansen		2:10:25
1991	Connie Hansen		2:04:40
1992	Tanni Grey		2:17:23
1993	Rose Hill		2:03:05
1994	Tanni Grey		2:08:26
1995	Rose Hill		2:17:02
1996	Tanni Grey		2:00:10
1997	Monica Wetterstrom		1:49:09
1998	Tanni Grey		2:02:01
1999	Monica Wetterstrom		1:57:38
2000	Sarah Piercy		2:23:30
2001	Tanni Grey-Thompson		2:13:55
2002	Tanni Grey-Thompson		2:22:51
2003	Francesca Porcellato		2:04:21
2004	Francesca Porcellato		2:04:58
2005	Francesca Porcellato		1:57:00
2006	Francesca Porcellato		1:59:57
2007	Shelly Woods		1:50:40

See also

• Running
• Half marathon
• Exercise

References

External links relating to running

• www.london-marathon.co.uk: Official website
• www.42k195.com
• London Marathon Route Guide

External links relating to charities

• London Marathon for disabled kids The charity which helps raise funds for children and young adults to enter the wheelchair marathon.
• Run the Flora London Marathon for CHILDREN with LEUKAEMIA -- UK's leading charity dedicated to fighting childhood leukaemia