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. Download high resolution version (1918x1440, 1849 KB)Fun runners surge out of the Blackfriars Bridge underpass onto the Victoria Embankment at the London Marathon 2005; four hours down and two miles to go. ... Download high resolution version (1918x1440, 1849 KB)Fun runners surge out of the Blackfriars Bridge underpass onto the Victoria Embankment at the London Marathon 2005; four hours down and two miles to go. ... Blackfriars Bridge with St Pauls Cathedral behind Blackfriars Bridge viewed from upstream, looking south Blackfriars Bridge, seen from Waterloo Bridge. ... Victoria Embankment, London The Victoria Embankment, previously the Thames Embankment is a road and walkway along the north bank of the River Thames in London in the cities of Westminster and London. ... Although marathon sometimes refers to any athletic event requiring great endurance, more specifically it refers to a long-distance track event of 42,195 m (26 miles and 385 yards). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ...

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 £41.5 million 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. Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

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. The World Marathon Majors is a championship style competition that will start in 2006 including the New York City, Boston, Chicago, London and Berlin marathons. ... The 100th running of the Boston Marathon, 1996 The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon sporting event hosted by the city of Boston, Massachusetts, on Patriots Day, the third Monday of April. ... The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, held in Chicago, is one of the largest marathon road races in the world, as well as one of the fastest growing. ... The New York City Marathon is an annual marathon foot-race run through the five boroughs of New York City. ... The Berlin Marathon is an annual marathon in Berlin, the capital of Germany. ...

History

See also: List of winners of the London Marathon

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 the White City Stadium, thus setting the standard length of modern marathons ever since. Christopher (Chris) William Brasher (August 21, 1928 – February 28, 2003) was a British athlete and sports journalist who helped found the London Marathon. ... The New York City Marathon is an annual marathon foot-race run over a 42,195 m (26. ... (Redirected from 1908 Olympics) The Games of the IV Olympiad, originally scheduled to be held in Rome, were instead held in 1908 in London, England. ... For the tennis stadium in Sydney, see White City Stadium (Sydney). ...

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] is the 88th day of the year (89th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ...

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] David Bedford (born London December 30, 1949) was an English long distance runner, whose career spanned the early 1970s. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Tower of London (disambiguation) Her Majestys Royal Palace and Fortress The Tower of London, more commonly known as the Tower of London (and historically simply as The Tower), is an historic monument in central London, England on the north bank of the River Thames. ...

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]. The electrolyte disturbance hyponatremia or hyponatraemia exists in humans when the sodium level in the plasma falls below 135 mmol/l. ...

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. is the 109th day of the year (110th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Michael Watson (born March 15, 1965) is a former boxer from England. ... Chris Eubank (born Christopher Livingstone Eubanks on August 8, 1966) is a boxer and British celebrity who held the WBO Middleweight and Super Middleweight titles. ...

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] Image:Stevebook. ... The Guinness Book of Records (or in recent editions Guinness World Records, and in previous US editions Guinness Book of World Records) is a book published annually, containing an internationally recognized collection of superlatives: both in terms of human achievement and the extrema of the natural world. ... The Oasis Trust (known as Oasis) is a UK-based Christian registered charity. ... Steve Chalke MBE is a prominent, and often outspoken, Christian leader and social activist based in the UK, and an ordained Baptist minister. ...

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. Blackheath is a suburb of London, divided between the London Borough of Lewisham and the London Borough of Greenwich. ... , Woolwich town hall dates from when this was a borough in its own right. ... The Royal Artillery Barracks in 1900 The Royal Artillery Barracks in 2005. ...

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. Cutty sark is 18th century Scots for short chemise or short undergarment[1]. Hyphenated, Cutty-sark was a nickname for a fictional character created by Robert Burns, and from there it became part of an idiom - Weel done, Cutty-sark! (Well done, Cutty-sark!) in colloquial English, especially Scottish English. ... This article is about Greenwich in England. ... Surrey Quays is a name given to a largely residential area of Rotherhithe in south-east London, occupied until 1970 by the Surrey Commercial Docks. ... , Bermondsey is an area of south London in the London Borough of Southwark. ... For the bridge of the same name in California, see Tower Bridge (California). ... The Highway is a mile-long road in the East End of London, with several historic landmarks nearby. ... Wapping Old Stairs, one of many points of access to the foreshore in the area. ... The Isle of Dogs in 1899, at the height of its commercial success The Isle of Dogs is in the centre of this 2005 aerial view of east London as seen from the skies over south London. ... For other uses, see Tower of London (disambiguation) Her Majestys Royal Palace and Fortress The Tower of London, more commonly known as the Tower of London (and historically simply as The Tower), is an historic monument in central London, England on the north bank of the River Thames. ...

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. Victoria Embankment, London The Victoria Embankment, previously the Thames Embankment is a road and walkway along the north bank of the River Thames in London in the cities of Westminster and London. ... “Houses of Parliament” redirects here. ... St. ... Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial. ... The Mall, looking towards Buckingham Palace The Mall (/mæl/) in London is the road running from Buckingham Palace at its western end to Admiralty Arch and on to Trafalgar Square at its eastern end, where it crosses Spring Gardens, which was where the Metropolitan Board of Works and for...

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. The eastern hemisphere of Earth, highlighted in yellow. ... The geographical western hemisphere of Earth, highlighted in yellow. ... Location of the Prime Meridian Image:Prime Meridian. ... This article is about Greenwich in England. ...

See also

• Running
• Half marathon
• Exercise

For other uses, see Running (disambiguation). ... In athletics, a half marathon is a race over half the distance of a marathon, i. ... The term Exercise can refer to: Physical exercise such as running or strength training Exercise (options), the financial term for enacting and terminating a contract Category: ...

References

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links relating to running

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

London Marathon

• Official website
• www.42k195.com
• London Marathon Route Guide