London Marathon - History

History

The London Marathon was not the first long-distance running event held in the city, which has a long history of marathon events. The Polytechnic Marathon (also known as the Poly) was first held in 1909.

The current London Marathon was founded in 1981 by former Olympic champion and journalist Chris Brasher and Welsh athlete John Disley. Shortly after completing the New York Marathon in November 1979 Brasher wrote an article for The Observer newspaper which began:

To believe this story you must believe that the human race be one joyous family, working together, laughing together, achieving the impossible. Last Sunday, in one of the most trouble-stricken cities in the world, 11,532 men and women from 40 countries in the world, assisted by over a million black, white and yellow people, laughed, cheered and suffered during the greatest folk festival the world has seen.

Inspired by the people of New York coming together for this occasion, he asked "whether London could stage such a festival?" The following year Brasher and Disley made trips to America to study the organisation and finance of big city marathons (such as those in New York and Boston). Brasher signed a contract with Gillette for £50,000, established charitable status and outlined six main aims in the hope to mirror the scenes he witnessed in New York and establish the United Kingdom on the map as a country capable of arranging major events. The London Marathon was born.

The first London Marathon was held on 29 March 1981, more than 20,000 applied to run. 6,747 were accepted and 6,255 crossed the finish line on Constitution Hill. The Marathon's popularity has steadily grown since then. As at 2009, 746,635 people have completed the race since its inception. In 2010, 36,549 people crossed the line, the biggest field since the race began. The first wheelchair marathon race was held in 1983 and the event was credited with reducing the stigma surrounding disabled athletes. In 2013 the IPC Athletics Marathon World Cup will be held within the London Marathon featuring athletes of both genders in the T42–T46 and T11–T13 categories.

For many years the London and Polytechnic Marathons competed with each other until, in 1996, the latter folded in due to the popularity of the former. Eleven participants have died since the event began, the most recent being in 2012 when a 30-year-old woman, Claire Squires, collapsed whilst running along Birdcage Walk, near St. James's Park. She had opened a JustGiving page to raise money for the Samaritans; as news of her death circulated, the number of donations increased from £500 to more than £1 million.