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The London Marathon
- Sapphire Running Team
- Jul 20
- 7 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Is this the best running event in the world?
We all know it's a really hard one to get a spot in and for many runners they never do. But if you are one of the lucky ones you need to make sure everything is planned to perfection, both before, during and after. Leave nothing to chance and you'll have an experience you'll never forget.
London
London is one of the world's iconic travel destinations. This event gives runners the opportunity to see if from a completely different perspective and to experience parts of the capital they wouldn't otherwise see.
The start is at Greenwich Park. Famed for giving its name to Greenwich Mean Time, Greenwich is home to a World Heritage Site, The O2 entertainment venue, London’s only cable car and London’s oldest Royal Park. Stand with a foot in each hemisphere and explore how scientists first mapped the seas and the stars at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, not far from where you'll begin your 26.2 mile journey. This Greenwich observatory is home to the Prime Meridian Line, the UK’s largest refracting telescope, a 4.5 billion-year-old asteroid and the only London planetarium.
Tower Bridge at halfway is one of the city's most famous landmarks. Construction began in 1886 and finished eight years later in 1894, with more than 400 workers a day involved. When you've finished the race head back and explore the high-level Walkways of Tower Bridge that connect the North and South Towers. They offer breathtaking panoramic views of London from 42 metres above the River Thames, from east to west.
The World Heritage site of the Houses of Parliament towards the end of the event is a must-see part of London. With Big Ben another iconic landmark next door, Parliament Square has a number of unique statues, with the riverside Victoria Tower Gardens home to the Buxton Memorial, marking the abolition of slavery. Westminster Abbey has been the coronation church since 1066 and is the resting place of more than 3,000 great Britons. It's a place that's touched the lives of kings, queens, statesmen and soldiers, poets, priests, heroes and villains since 960 AD. Don't miss Trafalgar Square and its famous Lions. If art is your thing the area has some world class galleries, including Tate Britain and the National Gallery.
The Royal Parks offer a relaxed space and a break from all the sightseeing. Once you've visited Buckingham Palace and seen the changing of the guard, head over the road to St James Park and up through the Green Park. Hyde Park is the biggest of them all at 350 acres, with Kensington Palace, home to the Prince and Princess of Wales easy to spot in Kensington Gardens. Are you really in the centre of London? When it's time for a refreshment break you'll be spoilt for choice. From Michelin star restaurants to traditional English pubs, Westminster has more than its fair share. Granted London isn't the cheapest city in the world but look closely and you'll find somewhere to suit your budget.
History of the London Marathon
The first London Marathon was held in 1981, with a total field of 7,000 runners. It wasn't the first large-scale marathon to be run around the streets of London. Between 1909 and 1996, the Polytechnic Marathon was the first-ever to regularly hold a race at the now-standard marathon distance of 42.195 kilometres.
Numbers grew quickly and capacity was soon reached. A ballot was introduced to give more runners the opportunity to take part and charities were also given the opportunity to become involved. It is now the biggest single biggest fundraising event anywhere and raises in excess of $80 million annually.
It was one of the founding members of the World Marathon Majors in 2006.
Race Organiser
London Marathon Events Ltd
When?
The race is held annually in April
Distances
Marathon only
Is there an Expo?
The Running Show is held from Wednesday to Saturday before the race at ExCeL, Royal Victoria Dock, 1 Western Gateway, London. E16 1XL. It's one of the biggest shows with a large number of exhibitors. Runners need to collect their bibs from here.
How many runners?
56,000
The course
Just like Boston, Tokyo and New York and unlike Chicago and Berlin, this is a point to point course, rather than one that starts and finishes in the same place. It starts east of the City, in Greenwich and finishes in the centre, a few hundred metres from Buckingham. That presents a challenge; where do you stay if you're visiting for the weekend - at the start or the finish? Having run it many times our recommendation would be staying nearer the finish. The reason for this is that, unlike the New York Marathon, you don't need to be at the start hours beforehand. 8.30-9.00am is fine, so this gives you plenty of time to get there. The transport links are also very good, so unlike NY you aren't relying on the race organiser to get you there on a specific vehicle. You have much more flexibility.
The start is a vast space as you'd expect and you'll need to take what you need to eat or drink with you. Other options are fairly limited which is a good thing as it's important to stick with what you're used to. You will now see one of the other overwhelming differences between this and other big marathons. Everybody seems to be running for charity! Everywhere you look there is someone in a charity running vest or T shirt. This event has more people running for charity than any other in the world. There is no exact stat available but it's likely to be around 75%. Tens of millions is raised every year for good causes. All along the route you will see charity cheer zones and they add a huge amount of colour and noise to proceedings. This race would not be what it is without the charities.
Running in costume has long been a London Marathon tradition and it has grown hugely every year. The Guiness Book of World Records sends a team to the finish line every year to verify record attempts and awards are made that day. It's a huge part of race and another feature that sets it apart from others. Don't be surprised to be overtaken at some point by a Rhino or a character from a Mr Men or Little Miss book, or a juggler running backward or any one of a hundred or more different personalities. The race is absolutely full of them and it gives the crowd something to really cheer about as they're waiting for their 'chosen one' to run past. Many of the runners in fancy dress are running for charity and the charities themselves have invested in the costumes. It helps them raise more money and massively raises their profile. The fancy dress runners receive a large amount of media coverage during race week and this helps the charities market their work.
The London Marathon course is very flat and with the new approach to the start area congestion isn't as bad, although it is always extremely busy, as you'd expect with over 45,000 runners. It does thin out as you get going and at the finish it's not as chaotic as some. There's no phone signal, in common with many others, but with the massive charity involvement comes charity post race functions which takes many of the runners quickly away to other places.
There are so many landmarks to see along the course, that although time doesn't exactly fly by, there is at least always something in sight to take your mind off things. At mile 6 and one of the highlights of the course is the Cutty Sark. The Cutty Sark represents the pinnacle of clipper ship design and was one of the fastest ships of its day. Aged 14 years, Cutty Sark started recording remarkably fast passage times, under her Master Richard Woodget, and became the dominant ship in bringing wool from Australia to England. Now beautifully restored it is one of the City's most important visitor attractions. At mile 12 you take a right turn and run across Tower Bridge. This and running down the home straight are the most emotionally charged parts of the course. There is no more memorable part of any marathon course anywhere in the world than the run across that Bridge. Truly unforgettable. From there it's eastwards to Canary Wharf and one of the world's leading financial centres (there is an out and back section at this point). At mile 20 you begin the run back to the finish and it's now wall to wall landmarks. The Tower of London, South Bank. the London Eye, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament and then of course Buckingham Palace before the last stretch down The Mall. Unreal.
There is plenty of water, energy drinks and also gels provided, so you don't need to take anything with you. Remember to train with the products available though. Don't just rock up and try them for the first time on the day itself.
What's unique?
There are a lot of unique moments. Running over Tower Bridge is one and past Buckingham Palace is another. It's full of them
Do charities benefit?
It is the largest annual fundraising event in the world with more than £1 billion raised for good causes since the first event. Hundreds of charities are involved with many of them having guaranteed entries in the race.
Our verdict
It is one of the global marathons that you just have to do. The involvement of the charities makes it very different from the other big city center races, with hundreds of not for profits lining the route and cheering on their runners. For the vast majority of the race the streets are full of supporters and there is rarely a moment when you're not supported.
How to register
The ballot normally opens straight after the race in April and closes a week or so afterwards. There are likely to be over a million applicants in the ballot so it's pretty tough to get a spot! If you don't get in (notification varies but is likely to be around August) try a tour operator or try a charity. A UK charity will want you to raise around £1500/£2000 and a US charity will ask for $5000.
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