London Marathon 2010: The Facts
Every year the London Marathon team release a media pack, designed to give journalists and sports presenters all the fuel they need to provide an entertaining report/broadcast come race day. Last year I stumbled upon it while I was doing some research to find out what was in store for me (having never run a marathon before).
The London Marathon Media Guide is full of great statistics and facts about the London Marathon. It’s also 210 pages long so to save you some time I’ve lifted some of the key sections for you here.
Enjoy!
London Marathon 2010
Statistics
Estimated number of spectators: 1 million
Largest field: 35,694 finishers [2007]
Number of people that applied to run in 2010: 162,000
Most popular age group: 30-39 [18,639 runners]
Oldest runner: Jerzy Kolodziej [86 years old!]
Runners who have birthdays on race day: 173
Most common occupation out of runners: Teacher/Education
Goody bag items: 500,000
Finishers’ medals: 36,000
Number of portable toilets: 1,250
Litres of red line paint (marking the course route): 300
Number of volunteers: 6000
Number of ambulances: 50
Bottles of baby oil: 200
Amount of vaseline available: 100lbs
Number of plasters: 2000
Number of foil blankets: 40,000
Bottles of water: 750,000
Pubs on the course: 81
Rubbish bags filled after race: 3,450
World Records
Fastest time in a Santa outfit: 2:55:50(!)
Fastest time in an animal costume: 3:42:27 [ostrich]
Fastest time dressed as a vegetable: 3:34:55 [carrot]
Fastest time dressed as a fruit: 4:32:28 [orange]
Most linked runners to complete a marathon: 29
Most money raised by one individual: £1,841,138
Fastest run by a married couple (aggregated): 5:59:20
Celebs running this year
- Princess Beatrice of York
- Tony Audenshaw (Bob Hope from Emmerdale)
- Mark Chapman (Chappers from Radio 1)
- Jenni Falconer (Presents the National Lottery)
- Ricky Groves (Garry Hobbs from Eastenders)
- Michelle Heaton (Singer from LibertyX)
- Russell Howard (Comedian)
- Loraine Kelly (GMTV Presenter)
- Natalie Imbruglia (Singer/Songwriter/Neighbours Actress)
- George Lamb (Big Brother Presenter)
- Eddie Jordan (F1 Presenter)
- Lee Latchford-Evans (Singer from Steps)
- Nell McAndrew (Model)
- Rich McCourt (Dick from ‘Dick and Dom’)
- Katie Price (Jordan) – PULLED OUT
- Steve Rider (Football Presenter)
- Gordan Ramsay (Chef)
- Ben Shephard (GMTV Presenter)
- Michelle Ryan (Zoe Slater from Eastenders)
- Gary Speed (Footballer)
- Iwan Thomas (Athlete)
- Jessie Wallace (Kat Slater from Eastenders)
- Dennis Wise (Footballer)
- Dominic Wood (Dom from ‘Dick and Dom’)
Have any other London Marathon facts you want to share? If so, leave a comment below!
3 Responses to “London Marathon 2010: The Facts”
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The Media Guide is absolutely fantastic. Great find!
I didn’t run in 2010 but I did in 2009 – you don’t happen to know where I could find the 2009 media guide (want to find out how many men finished that year).
I found one link that looked jopeful but it took me to a Virgin page with an error message so I guess the page has been taken down (though someone is bound to have a copy?).
Good site!
Cheers,
Mike
[...] did a little round-up in 2009, and again in 2010. So to save you from sifting through 244 pages of PR spiel, here’s a selection of 2011 Virgin [...]
Hi !
My name is Laura, I am a student in Event Management and as a group assignment we are focusing on the volunteering side of the sport event industry. I was wondering where did you get that Media Guide from and if I could get the previous years one for statistics purpose.
You might also have interesting informations on the topic that could be useful for us such as links or websites.
Thank you very much,
Laura.