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Starts Near Greenwich - Ends at the Mall by Buckingham Palace. |
The London marathon will take place on 22 April 2012 in London's Olympic year. How special is that ? The finish, running up the Mall, will be the same for both the London marathon route and the Olympics in August. I guess my 5 previous attempts to secure a place are because this race is simply iconic. It's absolutely our national marathon where for a few hours the streets of London are handed back to the people.
The race gets great prominence on BBC television, radio and national press coverage and is televised live in over 150 countries. In fact it has become a Sunday morning ritual each April for those (like me) who didn't secure a place to sit sadly wearing their "sorry you didn't make it" commiseration running shirt glued to the BBC coverage. The pro field are worldclass and Paula, Mara or Liz create the genuine possibility of a British winner. The amateur field TV coverage is far from NBC Ironman saccharin - it's much more understated. Most are fundraising in memory of an ill or sadly missed relative or friend. A small photo pinned to a singlet or a simple "running for Mum" logo. No less impressive or poignant. You just know that every charity runner has a story - and each "couch to marathon" journey certainly took deep inspiration.

London is also a very flat course which lends itself towards competitive and sometimes unpredictable times. The (rightful) world record holder Paula Radcliffe completed her history-making time here in 2003. This marathon engages most of the UK population - even those who have no interest in running and certainly no interest in multisport. London is one of the five World Marathon Majors which includes Berlin, Boston, Chicago and New York City.

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London Marathon - It's flat ! |
What I thought made the London marathon so special is that it becomes a hugely impressive focal point for charity fundraising. In true UK style this means people dress up in crazy, large, hot and unfeasable costumes. Not just Elvis - but as tigers, bears, batman ; there's a now-famous rhino and a 12ft tall nurse - you name it. It makes for great spectacle and it draws the crowds. Since 1981 event has raised over £450 million for charity and the event holds the Guinness world record as the largest annual fundraising event in the world.


“To believe this story you must believe that the human race can be one joyous family, working together, laughing together, achieving the impossible. Last Sunday, 11,532 men and women from 40 countries in the world, assisted by over a million people, laughed, cheered and suffered during the greatest folk festival the world has seen.”
- To improve the overall standard and status of British marathon running by providing a fast course and strong international competition.
- To show mankind that, on occasions, they can be united.
- To raise money for sporting and recreational facilities in London.
- To help boost London’s tourism.
- To prove that ‘Britain is best’ when it comes to organising major events.
- To have fun, and provide some happiness and sense of achievement in a troubled world.



"Financial analyst Ben Afforselles from Kent was fastest Leprechaun while Kevin Robins from Sevenoaks became the quickest runner dressed as an animal, in a tiger outfit. He said he was racing against a lobster who was also going for the record. "Coming up the Mall I thought he was going to run past me," the 33 year old said"
It's time you paused and thought what's stopping me from doing this ? Well maybe not exactly the London marathon - or maybe not yet - but a 5k in the spring is perfectly possible. Stever Runner tells you why in this podcast : it's really worth a listen. It will change your life if you let it.
Lets rattle through some London marathon facts before we look at who's done what.
- It's likely that 1 in 6 runners will contact St John's Ambulance crews during the race
- Only 1 in 10,000 are likely to need an A&E referral
- 60%+ of the runners will be male
- The most represented age group for both sexes is 30-39
- Males aged 40-49 are almost 30% of the overall male field
- Only 3% of runners will finish under 3H
- 30% of runners will finish under 4H
- Estimated number of spectators: 1 million
- Largest field: 35,694 finishers in 2007
- Number of people that applied to run in 2010: 162,000
- Oldest runner: Jerzy Kolodziej 86
- Most common occupation of runners: Teacher/Education
- Number of portable toilets: 1,250
- Number of volunteers: 6000
- Number of ambulances: 50
- Bottles of baby oil: 200
- Amount of vaseline available: 100lbs
- Number of foil blankets: 40,000
- Bottles of water: 750,000
- Pubs on the course: 81
- Rubbish bags filled after race: 3,450
- Fastest time in a Santa outfit: 2:55:50
- Fastest time in an animal costume: 3:42:27 [ostrich]
- Fastest time dressed as a vegetable: 3:34:55 [carrot]
- Fastest time dressed as a fruit: 4:32:28 [orange] Hey, we know that - Sally Orange !
- Most linked runners to complete a marathon: 29
- Most money raised by one individual: £1,841,138
- Matthew Paris, former politician and journalist, London Marathon, 2:32
- Ronan Keating, Boyzone, London Marathon, 4:20
- Cheryl Baker, Bicks Fizz, London Marathon, 5:19:46
- Nell McAndrew, Model, London Marathon, 3:08:25
- Iwan Thomas, 400m Champion, London Marathon, 4:24:52
- William Baldwin, Actor, New York City Marathon, 3:24:29
- Will Young, Singer, London Marathon, 4:02:35
- Muzzy Izzit, footballer, London Marathon, 3.22:36
- Henry Holland, Fashion Designer, London Marathon, 3:28:50
- Dwight Yorke, Footballer, London Marathon, 3:31:56
- Gordon Ramsay, Celeb Chief, London Marathon, 4:05
- Anthony Edwards, Actor (ER - bald Dr), Chicago Marathon 3:55:40 New york 4:08:20
- Princess Beatrice, as part of a "human caterpillar", London Marathon, 5:15:57
- Will Ferrell, Actor, Boston Marathon, 3:56:12
- Michel Roux, Cleb Chef, London Marathon, 3:59:39
- Chris Newton, Olympic cyclist, London Marathon, 2:58:52
- Oprah Winfrey, Marine Corps Marathon 4:29:20
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Oprah (on the left) |
- P. Diddy, New York City Marathon, 4:14:54
- Richard Branson, London Marathon, 5:02:24
- Amanda Holden, TV type person, 4:18:22
- Lance Armstrong, Rode a bike apparently, New York City Marathon, 2:46:42
- David Lee Roth, Van Halen, New York City Marathon 6:04:43
- Björn Ulvaeus, ABBA, Stockholm Marathon. 3:23:54
- George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States, Houston Marathon 3:44:52
- Michael Dukakis, Former Governor of Massachusetts, Boston MarathonI 3:31:00
- Al Gore, Vice President of the United States at the time, Marine Corps Marathon 4:58:25
- Sarah Palin, Former Alaska Governer, Anchorage Marathon 3:59:36
- Alanis Morissette,Singer, New York City Marathon 4:28:45
- Eddie Izzard, comedian,ran 43 marathons in 51 days best was 5:00:30
- Dexter Holland, The Offspring, Los Angeles Marathon 5:09
- Mike Malinin, Goo Goo Dolls, Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon 5:07:53 Chronicle Marathon 3:23:56
- Chris Boardman, former professional cyclist, London Marathon 3:19:27
- James Cracknell, Former British Olympic rower, London Marathon 2:59
- Alastair Campbell, Communications Director to Tony Blair, London Marathon 3:53:45
- Joe Strummer, The Clash, London Marathon, 3:20
So having taken October off completely I'm rediscovering my legs one workout at a time. The goal is for 4 runs this week at very low intensity (did I ever do anything else ?). Then building up to 6 days by the end of November. All nice and easy. Getting the chondroitin, Glucosamine and Elderberry in each day and starting on that core work (yeah right !) . The first benchmark will come in the New Year with a 10k. Join the journey, stay tuned to the blog .....if you dare. Twitter updates between posts: @daretotrilife
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Ok, you're right - this wasn't a good idea ... |
Tilly : not keen on hill repeats - me either ! |