A history of the London Marathon
The Original London Marathon
London's first marathon at the distance we know today was run for the 1908 Olympic Games, one of the most dramatic and controversial events of the Games.
The first runner to enter White City Stadium was Italian Dorando Pietri, but after a collossal effort, he collapsed several times and ran the wrong way. Not far from the finish, two officials took him by the arms and brought him to the line. As a consequence, after crossing the line he was disqualified. The medal went to American Johnny Hayes of the Irish American Athletic Club who was second, but the glory went to Pietri.
This was the first ever marathon run over 26 miles 385 yards. Previous marathons had been 26 miles long, but the event in the London Olympicswas extended by 385 yards so that the finishing line would be in front of the Royal Box.
"The" London Marathon
The first ever London Marathon as we know it today was in 1981 and was inspired by former Olympic champion Chris Brasher.
He'd competed in the New York City Marathon in 1979 and then wrote an article for The Observer where he asked “whether London could stage such a festival? We have the course, a magnificent course … but do we have the heart and hospitality to welcome the world?”
Chris met with the relevant authorities and two years later, on 29 March 1981, the annual London Marathon was born. 20,000 people wanted to run; 7,747 were accepted and 6,255 finished. It was a huge success, and the following year over 90,000 applied to run (there were 18,000 places). It's now a well established event in the sporting calendar, being broadcast in over 150 countries.
Changing the route
Since that first race, the route's seen a few changes. In 1981 the finish line was on Constitution Hill. It moved to Westminster Bridge the year after, and stayed there until 1994 when repairs to the bridge meant that the race had a new, spectacular finish in The Mall, in front of Buckingham Palace. The race has finished in the same location ever since.
Perhaps the biggest change though, happened in 2005, on the 25th anniversary of the race. The famous Tower of London cobbles were replaced by a fast, flat stretch along the Highway. That's led to the Isle of Dogs loop between 15 and 21 miles being completed in an anti clockwise direction. It's also resulted in a 45 second improvement in times for elite runners.
All in a good cause...
Over 720,000 runners have completed the London Marathon since it started while a record 35,694 people finished in 2007, making it the largest ever.
Finishers have raised, it is estimated, more than £361.5 million in sponsorship for numerous charities over the years. A record-breaking £46.5 million was raised for good causes by 2007's event alone making the London Marathon a Guinness world record-holder as the largest single annual fund raising event in the world.
Record breaking runs...
The London marathon's also prompted a few records. The honour for the slowest time belongs to former firefighter Lloyd Scott or marathon man as he's now called. Wearing a 130lb antique deep sea divers suit he took five days, eight hours, 29 minutes and 46 seconds - a record he then broke himself shortly afterwards at the New York marathon.
Paula Radcliffe became the fastest woman on a marathon course in 2003 when she ran the route in 2 hours 15 minutes. While America's Khalid Khannouchi set a new men's world record in 2002 with a time of 2 hours, 5 minutes and 38 seconds.