London Marathon Preview

The London Marathon is one of the most prestigious running events in the world. In fact, it is one of the five races that comprise the World Marathon Majors, a competition in which elite marathon racers earn points that determine a season champion. The other marathons in this competition are the Berlin, Boston, Chicago and New York events.

More than 35,000 runners are expected to run the London Marathon on Sunday. The race starts at 8:30 a.m. BST, and it will be broadcast live on BBC One and Radio 5. The event dates to 1981, when 20,000 people applied to be one of the 7,741 entrants. Chris Brasher and John Disley founded the event after being impressed by the New York Marathon and wanting to bring that type of event to London.

This year’s London Marathon will also serve as an Olympic qualifier for the Great Britain team. Already qualified on the men’s side is Scott Overall, while Paula Radcliffe and Mara Yamauchi have secured berths in the women’s competition. Two more men and another woman will be added to the team on Monday by the British Olympic Association.

On the women’s side, the strongest competitors for the lone remaining spot include Louise Damen, Claire Hallissey, Freya Murray and Liz Yelling. Jo Pavey is not running the event on Sunday, but her time of 2:28:24 in last year’s London Marathon is the expected time to beat to qualify for the team. Men’s hopefuls to take the two spots remaining on that team include Anthony Ford, Andi Jones, Lee Merrien, Ben Moreau, James Walsh, Benedict Whitby and Martin Williams.

The defending men’s champion, Kenya’s Emmanuel Mutai, set a course record in the 2011 event with a time of 2:02:40. Other men expected to compete for the crown this year include fellow Kenyans Wilson Kipsang and Patrick Makau. Mary Keitany claimed the 2011 crown, and she is joined by Kenyans Lucy Kabuu and Florence Kiplagat as well as German Irina Mikitenko as favorites in the 2012 competition.

The most recent British woman to claim a London Marathon title was Radcliffe in 2005. She is tentatively planning to run on Sunday, depending on if she feels she is physically at or near 100 percent. The last British man to win the event was Eamonn Martin. He crossed the finish line first in 1990.

The London Marathon course starts in Greenwich Park before going east for three miles. It then heads north to the River Thames and then west for nine miles. After crossing the Tower Bridge, the runners run east to and through the Isle of Dogs before returning past the Tower Bridge and to The Mall and the finish line. The Olympic course to be used this summer consists of four circuits of central London with a section that goes from the Westminster tube station to The Mall that mimics the final stretch of the London Marathon.