Spring has sprung and marathon season is is in full swing. From the likes of Paris, Bratislava and Brighton last weekend through to the doyenne that is Boston at April’s end. Via, of course, the centrepiece in London, rivalled for glamour only by New York which sits on the opposite side of the calendar.
The Big Apple beat London to a mass marathon by eleven years, being first run in 1970, but Britain’s capital gave the event its set 26.2 mile distance at the 1908 Olympics. While weary runners may curse Pheidippides for his epic journey after the Battle of Marathon in 490BC, it is Queen Alexandra’s request to move the start line at Windsor Castle that deserves most opprobrium for those struggling up Birdcage Walk or in the final 385 yards of any marathon worldwide.
The Greek messenger collapsed and died after delivering his news of victory over the Persians. No energy gels and super shoes back in his day.
London’s rise to Spring pre-eminence is testament to a small but slick operation that early on worked out how to navigate the complexities of London borough bureaucracy while selling the vision of a marriage of elite athletic endeavour to Joe and Joanna Public’s testing of their personal endurance. Key has been a deep knowledge of the sport within the race’s founders through to its leaders today.
The nearer you live to London, the more likely you are to know someone running the 26.2 miles on 21 April. More likely than not they will be doing so for charity. The London Marathon itself is a canny corporate structure - a professional events company owned by a charity. The latter enjoys the profits from the race, distributing them to capital projects promoting physical activity in the capital and other areas which host the company’s events.
Could the London Marathon be more profitable? Sure it could. An entry fee of £69.99 for domestic entrants is notably the lowest of the six World Marathon Majors and less than a third of New York’s.
This charitable architecture, coupled with runners’ direct fundraising efforts, adds to London’s aura. Would there be up to a million people watching on the streets otherwise? I doubt it. They are unlikely, after all, to see a men’s world record broken. That’s only happened once, back in 2005. Berlin, a flatter course with wider, smoother bends has witnessed nine. Anyway, roadside the elite athletes flash by you in seconds whereas the masses provide hours of emotional engagement.
The public ballot to enter the 2025 London Marathon opens the day before this year’s race. As ever it will be massively oversubscribed. I adhere to the oft-repeated claim that after a first marathon everyone says ‘never again’ but within minutes or hours a small sub-set will think ‘maybe one more.’
Truth is, for the vast majority this is ‘one and done’. And if you’re only ever going to go this distance once, why not in the most iconic race? This helps explain why the London Marathon is bucking a downwards trend in participation in running events. Although there was a spike in recreational running in the pandemic, ParkRun and organised races are still operating at below pre-Covid levels.
One sign of the times was the Brighton Marathon falling into administration in 2022. The race has been a classic alternative for those who fail to secure a London place since 2010. It is now operated by London Marathon Events. Other British marathons have fallen by the wayside. Road closures are costly and complex to agree with the authorities. The economics only tend to work for small events (off-road, especially) or mega races. The middle ground is a hand-to-mouth existence.
So, all roads continue to point to The Mall. If you do know anyone running London next weekend, do slip them a few pounds for charity. It might just give them the motivation they need while cursing Queen Alexandra in those final few yards.
In my experience, your favourite marathon is your last completed, unless you made a complete hash of it. So, Reykjavik for me. Until London in ten days time - hash-avoidance permitting, that is. I confess though to an enduring love of Boston’s race which comes with 127 years of history, only one of which was fallow. Covid did what two World Wars and the 2013 bombers couldn’t.
Marathon weekend in Boston drips with its stories, and appeals to running nuts who all - barring a small number of charity places - have to prove they’ve met a qualifying standard to enter the race. I made a hash of it last time I ran it though…
Monsieur Motivator
A running mate who ran the Paris Marathon last weekend was surprised to find his target race time printed on his bib instead of a more normal way of identifying the pen he had to line up in at the start. How’s that for publicly shaming anyone who then falls short of their pre-race ambition? Or maybe it was a Gallic motivational tactic for all the runners. Pleased to say he was comfortably inside his 3:30 target for his first marathon. 3:18.34 to be precise. Four days on and he’s in the ‘maybe one more’ camp.
Welcome to the Pleasuredome
Hard to know what to make of the government’s announcement of a five-year programme to build 16 cricket domes and invest £14 million in three cricketing charities. Total cost £35 million. Objective: to get over 900,000 more kids playing the sport, with an emphasis on the most disadvantaged.
“One last sporting punt from a 'cricket-loving' PM?” a sporting insider asks me. It’s certainly come out of the blue - unusual for a leaky political world prone to multiple pre-announcements. As with all such things, we will never know whether the money proves well spent, but I hope it’s not to late to ensure that the domes have multi-sport capability as cricket isn’t the only leisure pursuit crying out for new indoor capacity and support for work in neglected corners of the kingdom.
Slipping into neutral
With an absence of fanfare, the UK government has abandoned its blanket antipathy to Russian and Belarusian participation at Paris 2024. The ‘informal guidance’ I and other governing body leaders received last week now toes the IOC and IPC line, allowing individual athletes from the two belligerent nations to take part in the Games as ‘neutrals’.
We’re told the government doesn’t want to “unduly [penalise] those who truly intend to participate in an entirely neutral capacity.”
Impossible to find words to do justice to the scale of my dismay. This climbdown may suit the likes of the Wimbledon tennis championships, which found itself in a bind on the issue two years ago, but is yet another unwelcome reminder of the world’s craven propensity to yield to the will of the IOC.
Clip, clop, snip, chop
It hasn’t take long for the smaller crowds at the Cheltenham Festival to bite (see this previous Sport inc.). The Jockey Club, Cheltenham’s owner, has sliced prize money at its other racecourses and downgraded the status of five meetings. Read the details here in the Racing Post. The Jockey Club’s CEO cites “very, very significant financial headwinds”. Hard to see these abating anytime soon.
It’s coming home
Looping this Sport inc. back to London, we’ve just launched the search for members of the board that will oversee delivery of the World Team Table Tennis Championships at the OVO Arena in Wembley in 2026.
This is going to be a sensational ten days of sport. If you think you’ve the passion to help make the Champs a success and would like to join me on the board to do just that, then take a look at the details here
We’re seeking a wide range of skills to help ensure this is a ground-breaking event. It’s going to be fun - guaranteed!
Having googled London marathon results, I was interested to learn that the women's world record has been set no fewer than five times at London :
Grete Waitz in 1983 at 2:25:29
Ingrid Kristiansen in 1985 at 2:21:06
Paula Radcliffe in 2003 at 2:15:25 (mixed marathon running and still the lady's course record)
Paula Radcliffe in 2005 at 2:17:42 (women only running)
Mary Keitany in 2017 at 2:17:01 (women only running)
Great summary of the state of marathon and distance events, Ed. I hope you’re well - and maybe see you on the streets of London on 21st?