London Marathon 2023
Our very own Paula Seed is running the London Marathon…
We are delighted to announce our wonderful colleague Paula Seed is taking part in this years London Marathon to raise money for Mind BLMK.
Last year Paula took part in the MK Marathon to raise money for us and smashed it. Now this year, she’s ready to take part in one of the nations most prestige races…
London Marathon History
The first London Marathon race took place on the 29th March 1981. Over the years more than a million people have completed the course, over a billion pounds has been raised for charity and there have been many amazing sporting achievements.
It was inspired but the New York City Marathon, which was established in 1970. Olympic steeplechase medalists Chris Brasher and John Disley were determined that the London Marathon would showcase the very best of the capital. They also declared the event would help people ‘to have fun, and provide some happiness and sense of achievement in a troubled world’.
World records
Over 22,000 runners applied to take part in the first race in 1981. However, they had to cap the capacity due to safety reasons which saw 7,741 runners take part – a mere fraction compared to the 45,000-plus runners that we see today.
To this day, Great Britain’s Paula Radcliffe holds the course record for a mixed marathon in 2003 which was completed in 2 hours 15 minutes and 25 seconds. Kenya’s Mary Keitany was also a world record breaker in 2017, with a time of 2 hours 17 minutes and 01 second.
The men’s course record is 2 hours 02 minutes 37 seconds, set in 2019 by four-time winner and arguably the greatest marathon runner of all time, Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya.
Australia’s Kurt Fearnley set the men’s wheelchair race course record at 1 hour 28 minutes and 57 seconds in 2009 and the women’s wheelchair course record belongs to Switzerland’s Manuela Schär, who finished in 1 hours 39 minutes and 57 seconds in 2017.
The Race
The London Marathon is 26.2 miles and starts in Greenwich and finishes is St James Park, it takes in some of the most famous landmarks in the city. You can see the full route map here; tcslm-route-map
You can also catch live coverage of the London Marathon on the BBC throughout the day.
Please join us in wishing Paula the best of luck, we’ll all be cheering you on!
Posted on: 3rd April 2023
