
Cover of Virgin London
The Virgin London Marathon is about to start, just wanted to get you a few more notes on the race. We will cover the race live from London, then head to Heathrow, fly to Boston and cover Boston on Monday.
Just finished my three mile walk this morning along the St. Katherine Docks, which was totally deserted this morning! Both races should be tremendous, in London, as the womens’ race starts at 9 am and the Men’s elite at 9.45 am. I am in the London Media room, which gives us a ton of room to work and information galore.
35,643 applications were accepted for the 2011 Virgin London Marathon, which means, with such good weather, 35,000 will probably start. Marathons are huge assets for major world cities, as they bring tourists, marathoners, and their families to the cities. Hotels, restaurants, tourist areas all gain value for the city.
Companies like Virgin do not sponsor races like London without the seeing the branding value of such a huge event. This release notes that Sir Richard Branson, the creative leader of Virgin, will start the race!

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Virgin London Marathon
For immediate release: Saturday 16 April 2011
Sir Richard Branson to start the Virgin London Marathon |
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Virgin Group founder Sir Richard
Branson will set 36,500 runners on their way in the 2011 Virgin London Marathon tomorrow morning.
Sir Richard will drop the starter’s
“Once again it’s a great privilege
“After taking part last year I know
Meanwhile, 23.2 miles away in Old
More than 2,500 11-17 year-old boys
Twelve months ago Holly Branson,
Holly Branson said: “The Mini The full list of official starters and medal presenters for Sunday’s event is below. The official starters of the Virgin London Marathon on Sunday 17 April will be:
Holly Branson, Sir Richard Branson’s daughter
Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group
Sir Steve Bullock, Mayor of the London Borough of Lewisham
Councillor Barbara Barwick, Mayor of the London Borough of Greenwich
The medal presenters of the Virgin London Marathon on Sunday 17 April will be:
10.30 Virgin Money Giving Mini Holly Branson
12.15 Virgin London Marathon John Spurling, Chairman of the |
Author
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Larry Eder has had a 50-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."