Overview
The race was founded by the former Olympic champion and journalist Chris Brasher and Welsh athlete John Disley. It is organised by former 10,000m world record holder David Bedford as Race Director and Nick Bitel as Chief Executive. Set over a largely flat course around the River Thames, the race begins at three separate points around Blackheath and finishes in The Mall alongside St. James's Park. Since the first marathon, the course has undergone very few route changes. In 1982, the finishing post was moved from Constitution Hill to Westminster Bridge due to construction works. It remained there for twelve years before moving to its present location at The Mall.
In addition to being one of the top five international marathons run over the distance of 42.195 kilometres, the IAAF standard for the marathon established in 1921 and originally used for the 1908 London Olympics, the London Marathon is also a large, celebratory sporting festival, second only to the Great North Run in South Shields, in terms of the number of participants. The event has raised over £450 million for charity since 1981, and holds the Guinness world record as the largest annual fund raising event in the world, with the 2009 participants raising over £47.2 million for charity. In 2007, 78% of all runners raised money. In 2011 the official charity of the London Marathon was Oxfam.
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