21 Fun Facts About The London Marathon1. April 24th, 2016, sees the 36th annual London Marathon take place.
2. The London Marathon is the Guinness World Record's largest annual fundraising event in the world.
3. The London Marathon has raised over half a billion pounds for charity since the first race back on the 29th March 1981.
4. The initial race had 7,741 entrants, and 6,225 completed the course.
5. In comparison, last year's event (2015) had over 38,000 participants, including the professional runners, the fun runners, a few Members of Parliament, plus Formula One racing driver Jenson Button. And a dinosaur.
6. Last year 37,740 crossed the finish line.
7. This year (2016), 247,069 people sent in applications to enter the London Marathon.
8. However, not everyone who enters gets to start the race.
The organisers draw a ballot at random to decide who can take part.
Just over 50,000 people will be eligible to participate. But, due to injury, illness, or "Oh my god I can't do this" syndrome, about 10,000 will drop out before the race begins.
9. The 2016 London Marathon will celebrate its one millionth runner.
Each racer who completes the 26.2 mile course from Greenwich to Westminster will cross the finish line with their left index finger raised and be #OneInAMillion
10. British Astronaut Tim Peake will be the official starter for the 2016 London Marathon.
He will set the runners going with a special message and the he'll start his own marathon n a treadmill on board the International Space Station in orbit above the Earth.
11. The Marathon myth originates back in 490 BC when a Greek messenger, either Thersipus or Eucles, was sent from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens so he could announce their army had defeated the Persians.
As the legend goes, he ran the entire distance of roughly 26 miles in a time of under three hours, bursting into the gathered assembly, and shouting, "We've won. We've won."
And then he collapsed and died.
12. The course record for men was set in 2014 by Kenyan Wilson Kipsang in 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 29 seconds.
13. The women's course record was set by British runner, Paula Radcliffe in 2:15:25, which was also a World Record.
14. This is in comparison to the first Men's race which was tied between American Dick Beardsley and Norwegian Inge Simonsen, who completed the course in 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 48 seconds, whilst holding hands.
15. The London Marathon itself isn't the only record breaker.
Thirty Three Guinness World Records were broken in 2015, including:
Ric Nardi who set a new record for the Fastest Marathon Dressed As A Telephone Box. He ran the course in 4 hours, 33 minutes, 56 seconds.
Neil Casey broke the record for the Fastest Marathon In A Nurse's Uniform (male) by running the marathon in 2 hours, 46 minutes, and 48 seconds.
Adam Jones is also a new record holder as he ran the London Marathon in a time of 2 hours, 59 minutes, and 30 seconds becoming the Fastest Marathon Runner Dressed As A leprechaun.
16. There are over 65 Guinness World Record chasers in the 2016 London Marathon.
45-year-old Ian Bates will be donning a costume weighing 20kg, and will hope to complete the race in a record time and achieve the record for Fastest Marathon Dressed As A 3-D Dinosaur.
17. All the fun runners are trying to raise money for their chosen charity.
Ian Bates, running as a dinosaur, is raising money for St Catherine's Hospice in Crawley. They provide specialised end of life care and support to the local people, their families, friends, and carers.
18. The slowest time to complete the race was set by Lloyd Scott in 2002, when he ran, well, shuffled, around the full course wearing a 110lb deep-sea diving suit.
He did it in five days and eight hours, a record that will remain unbroken.
19. The killjoy organisers have now imposed a maximum time limit on anyone taking part in the race of 24 hours.
20. On their 26.2 mile journey around London, the runners can take in some of the capital's tourist attractions.
These include Tower Bridge, the National Maritime Museum, the Cutty Sark - a tea clipper built 150 years ago, and, of course, Buckingham Palace, the official residence of Her Majesty, The Queen.
21. There are also 23 water stations, 1,250 portable toilets and 80 pubs on the course, just in case the runners need some refreshments or are caught short.
Not that Paula Radcliffe bothered using the available facilities. In 2005, when she was caught short, she squatted at the side of the road to water the flowers.
Bonus Round
1. The most raised by a single runner was £2,330,159 by Steve Chalke in 2011.
2. This years event is set to raise a whopping £100 million for charity.
3. After this year's race, over one million runners will have completed the course since the first race.
4. The London Marathon is televised in 196 countries around the world.
5. The route passes close to the Mayflower pub, where the Pilgrim Fathers met before setting sail for America.
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