The route for the London 2012 marathon has been revealed and there’s been a lot of anger in the press that the route will not take in parts of East London as originally planned. Instead the route will involve three 8-mile laps of the tourist hotspots of central London.
The new route will start in The Mall, and take in London sights including Buckingham Palace, Admiralty Arch, Birdcage Walk, St Paul’s Cathedral, Leadenhall, Tower Hill and the Houses of Parliament before finishing in The Mall.
Sebastian Coe, Chair of the organising committee said: ‘Our prime objective as the Organising Committee has to be to deliver venues and events that work for the athletes, spectators, and for the host city – venues that provide the best possible way of keeping the city moving, minimising disruption for everyone and, critically, getting the athletes and spectators to the venues on time. We are confident that the new route is the best way to do this.’
Now, I’m no contender for the Olympic marathon and maybe the route isn’t the main draw for competing in races once you get to elist standard – but generally I avoid routes that involve laps. For me there’s nothing worse than passing the same spot again and again. Twice round Richmond Park, as much as I love it, is enough for me in one go. I ran one lap of the Olympic marathon route to test it out and you can live it with me through these amazing pictures I took on the way.
Yes it will be nice for TV spectators to see Big Ben and St Paul’s Cathederal, but do you need to see them three times? Wouldn’t they like to see the ‘real’ London along with the tourist spots? Plenty of people tune in for the London Marathon coverage every year without seeing half the sites on the Olympic route.
Dates have now been set for the races – see here.
Lazy Girl,
I’m from the US, doing my first marathon in Chicago this october and was thinking about doing London next year… After looking at your post, 2012 might not be the best year to do it? Are there any other spring marathons worth crossing the atlantic for?
My email is Brianrburgess@gmail.com Thanks in advance, or as you all say, Cheers!
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Hi Brian,
I’d say go for it. the London Marathon is the same route every year and is a different route to the one they’ll use for the Olympic marathon.
The London Marathon (held every April) starts in Greenwich and finishes in front of Buckingham Palace and you’ll get great support the whole way.
Paris Marathon is held every April too, so if you don’t fancy London you could try that.