CorpComms Magazine

Is it that time already?

Indeed it is. The Virgin London Marathon is on 17 April 2011.

Why people would put themselves through it I'll never know. Who came up with the idea?

The marathon exists today thanks to two members of the Raneleigh Harriers running club: Welsh-born John Disley, and fellow athlete Chris Brasher.

It seems like a massive thing for just two men to set up, it can't have been easy.

Well with London being the size that it is, the difficulty came in convincing the police that the marathon was a good idea, and that taking-over 26 miles of road would not cause the city to come to a complete stand-still. And with a stroke of luck they did.

Blimey. Somehow I can't imagine it being quite that easy nowadays. Anyway, how did Disley and Brasher expect to fund this venture? Did they have stacks of cash somewhere?

Quite the opposite in fact. With the budget way over what they expected to raise from entries, even second mortgages on their properties would not cover costs, so they called on sponsors to help.

Did a sports company cash-in on the idea then and back them?

So you would think. But no, it was none other than Gillette who agreed to sponsor them, at £75,000 per annum for three years.

So, when was the big day?

On 29 March 1981, the first race was held. The response was outstanding! An estimated 20,000 runners tried to enter, and over 7,740 were accepted. The race was won by American Dick Beardsley and Norwegian Inge Simonsen who crossed the line holding hands, in a time of two hours, 11 minutes and 48 seconds.

The Brits didn't do spectacularly then?

Actually they did, 43-year-old Joyce Smith won it for the girls, setting a new world record and winning the women's race in two hours, 29 minutes and 57 seconds.

So it was a success then!

Well judging by the numbers that tried to enter the following year - more than four times those in 1981 - I'd say so. Plus, since the start, the marathon has raised more than £450 million for charity!

And who holds the current record?

Kenyan Sammy Wanjiru ran it in two hours, five minutes and 10 seconds... can you believe it?!

That's less time than it takes me to put my face on prior to my Saturday night out!

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