The London Marathon

After living in Boston for six years, I'm a bit of a marathon snob. Not that I've ever actually done one myself, it's just that getting (or taking) a Monday off to watch and celebrate the world's most respected road race has left a mark. So when I found out that the London Marathon "“ which has only been around since 1981 "“ was on for this weekend, internally, I sort of said, "Meh."

But the London Marathon, sponsored by Flora, a British margarine company, is a pretty important marathon in its own right. It's got its own history, its own tradition, and its own characters, as well as the fact that its course is plotted through some of London's most historic areas, including Embankment, Parliament, and St. James Park (although the Tower of London portion, which crossed some rough cobblestone terrain, has been rerouted).

Here are a few more interesting facts about the London Marathon:

It started with an article

Believe in the power of the press, because it was an article written by former Olympic champion and British journalist Chris Brasher that prompted the organization of the first London Marathon. In 1979, after running the New York marathon, Brasher penned an article for The Observer, describing the experience in joyful terms as the "greatest folk festival the world has ever seen," and summed up by asking if London could ever pull off something like it. (Of course, Brasher's inspiration for running the marathon himself began, as many, many things in the UK do, with a conversation in a pub.)

London "“ or rather Brasher and a few other like-minded sports enthusiasts "“ rose to the challenge. Two years later, after securing £50,000 in financial backing from Gillette, the London Marathon kicked off, with 6,255 runners crossing the finish line.

The current sponsor is Flora, however, that will change next year, as Virgin, which seems to have a finger in virtually every industry known to man, takes over for a period of five years and with a goal of raising £250 million for charity. Since its inception, the marathon has raised more than £360 million for charity and is in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the world's single largest annual fundraising event.

Celebrity runners

Britain has its own cadre of celebrities and a fair few of them have run the London Marathon. Foul-mouthed celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has run the marathon five times; TV presenter and former official model for Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Nell McAndrew, has run the marathon at least twice; actors from long-running Brit soap opera EastEnders are perennial Marathoners, with at least one of them popping up every year; and the late reality TV star Jade Goody ran in 2006.

Tradition! Tradition!

As with many charity driven marathons, fancy dress is a long-standing and essential component. Because when you're panting through your 21st mile, you want to look over and see a banana and a dog skipping past you. Runners in fat suits, runners in kilts, and runners in carefully constructed London telephone booth costumes have all crossed the finish line in recent years; one man has even made a tradition of flipping a cooked pancake in a skillet as he runs.

Some runners have made the London Marathon itself their tradition. The Ever Presents are a dwindling group of die-hards who have managed to run the marathon every single year. A group of roughly 22, they're all men who ran the inaugural London Marathon in 1981, and, despite the cruel passage of time, the loss of hair, teeth and stamina, they're still going.

For the non-runners, there's a lengthy tradition of drinking. On the interactive course map provided by the marathon organizers, pub locations are handily indicated with a pint glass icon. And there are a lot of pint glasses. Many of the pubs also run marathon specials, raising money and awareness for various charitable causes "“ so while you never really need a reason to drink, a charitable cause is a good one.

Inspiring stories

By their very nature, marathons are events where inspiring things happen, where people push themselves to their limits and far beyond, often in the name of a good cause.

Michael Watson, a former British boxing champion, was nearly killed in the ring in 1991 when the combination of a devastating uppercut to the chin and subsequent unlucky fall into the ropes put him in a coma for 40 days. After he awoke, Watson was confined to a wheelchair, told he'd never walk again, and had to re-learn how to write and speak. But in 2003, Watson "ran" the London Marathon. Raising money for the Brain and Spine Foundation, Watson walked for two hours each morning and each afternoon, completing the course in six days. He slept in a support bus that followed him and that also carried both his neurosurgeon and Chris Eubanks, the boxer who delivered the nearly fatal uppercut.

For his efforts, Queen Elizabeth awarded him an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 2004.

The warriors' visit also prompted a British charity to write up a four-page "guide" for the visiting tribesmen, with helpful hints, such as "Even though some [people on the street] may look like they have a frown on their face, they are very friendly people "“ many of them just work in offices, jobs they don't enjoy, and so they do not smile as much as they should."