London Marathon

The London Marathon is a marathon race that has been held each year in London since 1981, usually in April. While it is run over the traditional distance of 42.195 km miles and 385 yards, it is not the conventional marathon it was intended to be; it has become a large, celebratory sporting festival.

Description

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.

The London Marathon came into existence on March 29, 1981, when nearly 7,500 athletes participated in the race. By the 25th event the number of starters reached 35,680.

Whilst it is a serious athletic event, with large prize money attracting elite athletes, public perception of the race is dominated by the fun runners. 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.

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 after six days of competing, becoming a national hero in England.

The 2006 London Marathon was held on 23 April (^*," target="_blank" >^*), which was also St George's Day (St. George is the patron saint of England).

The next London Marathon will take place on Sunday, April 22, 2007.

Results

Run over a largely flat course around the River Thames, the London Marathon is generally regarded as a very competitive and unpredictable event, and conducive to fast times. The record times are shown in bold below and also highlighted in the history tables:

2:05:38 for men (Khalid Khannouchi, USA) in 2002 and
2:15:25 for women (Paula Radcliffe, UK) in 2003.

Men's race

Winning times for the London Marathon Men’s race
Year	Athlete	Country	Time
1981	Inge Simonsen & Dick Beardsley	Norway & USA	2:11:48 (dead heat)
1982	Hugh Jones	UK	2:09:24
1983	Mike Gratton	UK	2:09:43
1984	Charlie Spedding	UK	2:09:57
1985	Steve Jones	UK	2:08:16
1986	Toshihiko Seko	Japan	2:10:02
1987	Hiromi Taniguchi	Japan	2:09:50
1988	Henrik Jørgensen	Denmark	2:10:20
1989	Douglas Wakiihuri	Kenya	2:09:03
1990	Allister Hutton	UK	2:10:10
1991	Yakov Tolstikov	Russia	2:09:17
1992	António Pinto	Portugal	2:10:02
1993	Eamonn Martin	UK	2:10:50
1994	Dionicio Cerón	Mexico	2:08:53
1995	Dionicio Cerón	Mexico	2:08:30
1996	Dionicio Cerón	Mexico	2:10:00
1997	António Pinto	Portugal	2:07:55
1998	Abel Antón	Spain	2:07:57
1999	Abdelkader El Mouaziz	Morocco	2:07:57
2000	António Pinto	Portugal	2:06:36
2001	Abdelkader El Mouaziz	Morocco	2:07:09
2002	Khalid Khannouchi	USA	2:05:38 (Men's World Record)
2003	Gezahegne Abera	Ethiopia	2:07:56
2004	Evans Rutto	Kenya	2:06:18
2005	Martin Lel	Kenya	2:07:35
2006	Felix Limo	Kenya	2:06:39

Women's race

Winning times for the London Marathon Women’s race
Year	Athlete	Country	Time
1981	Joyce Smith	UK	2:29:57
1982	Joyce Smith	UK	2:29:43
1983	Grete Waitz	Norway	2:25:29
1984	Ingrid Kristiansen	Norway	2:24:26
1985	Ingrid Kristiansen	Norway	2:21:06
1986	Grete Waitz	Norway	2:24:54
1987	Ingrid Kristiansen	Norway	2:22:48
1988	Ingrid Kristiansen	Norway	2:25:41
1989	Véronique Marot	UK	2:25:56
1990	Wanda Panfil	Poland	2:26:31
1991	Rosa Mota	Portugal	2:26:14
1992	Katrin Dörre	Germany	2:29:39
1993	Katrin Dörre	Germany	2:27:09
1994	Katrin Dörre	Germany	2:32:34
1995	Malgorzata Sobanska	Poland	2:27:43
1996	Liz McColgan	UK	2:27:54
1997	Joyce Chepchumba	Kenya	2:26:51
1998	Catherina McKiernan	Ireland	2:26:26
1999	Joyce Chepchumba	Kenya	2:23:22
2000	Tegla Laroupe	Kenya	2:24:33
2001	Derartu Tulu	Ethiopia	2:23:57
2002	Paula Radcliffe	UK	2:18:56
2003	Paula Radcliffe	UK	2:15:25 (Women's World Record)
2004	Margaret Okayo	Kenya	2:22:35
2005	Paula Radcliffe	UK	2:17:42 (Women Only World Best)
2006	Deena Kastor	USA	2:19:35

Men's wheelchair race

Winning times for the London Marathon Men’s wheelchair race
Year	Athlete	Country	Time
2002	David Weir	UK	1:39:44
2003	Joel Jeannot	France	1:32:02
2004	Saúl Mendoza	Mexico
2005	Saúl Mendoza	Mexico	1:35:51
2006	David Weir	UK	1:29:48

Women's wheelchair race

Winning times for the London Marathon Women’s wheelchair race
Year	Athlete	Country	Time
1997	Tanni Grey-Thompson	UK
1998	Tanni Grey-Thompson	UK
1999	Tanni Grey-Thompson	UK
2000	Sarah Piercy	UK	2:23:30
2001	Tanni Grey-Thompson	UK
2002	Tanni Grey-Thompson	UK	2:22:51
2003	Francesca Porcellato	Italy	2:04:21
2004	Francesca Porcellato	Italy	2:05:00
2005	Francesca Porcellato	Italy	1:57:00
2006	Francesca Porcellato	Italy	1:59:57

References

BBC (2004). The London Marathon 2006 - How to run in it. December 19, 2005.

External links relating to running

www.london-marathon.co.uk: Official website
www.london-marathon.info: private website (how2enter, route, stats, reports, photos)
realbuzz.com - Running, health and fitness site, also creators of the Flora London Marathon website
- realbuzz.com Flora London Marathon chat forum
Runner's World (UK) website
- Runner's World (UK) discussion forums
Guide to entering the London Marathon
RunnersForum.co.uk London Marathon Page
- RunnersForum.co.uk running discussion

External links relating to charities

Fundraising service for London Marathon runners to build online sponsorship pages The London Marathon is the UK's single biggest one day charity fundraiser. Over £31 million pounds was raised for charity in 2002.

Get Kids Going - Run the London Marathon for disabled children - Tanni Grey Thompson is their patron
Amnesty International needs your support
Cancer Research UK needs your support

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