Over the last weekend, what do you think was the biggest sporting event? The FA Cup semi-final between Manchester City and Manchester United? The China F1 Grand Prix? The answer, in fact, was the London Marathon. This year there were 36,500 runners participating on the 26.2 mile annual London event.
History
The first London Marathon was held on 29 March 1981 and more than 20,000 people took part. It was set up by a journalist and athlete who wanted to establish an event similar to the New York and Boston marathons. They believed the UK could have one of the best marathons in the world.
The Course
You may have noticed on Sunday that some streets around London were closed (particularly if you were in Trafalgar Square). This is because the course begins at three separate points around Blackheath, South-east London (near Greenwich) and finishes at Buckingham Palace. The course is known to be one of the most beautiful, as you go past the Tower of London, St Paul’s Cathedral, The London Eye, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
Fund-raising
Whilst it is a serious athletic event, with large prize money attracting elite athletes, the public view the race as being for club and fun runners. The latter, sometimes in funny fancy dress and often collecting money for charity, are most of the 30,000+ runners and they help to attract crowds of up to half a million on the streets. The slowest time ever recorded in a funny costume was 5 days and 8 hours by a man called Lloyd Scott in a deep-sea diving outfit! You also have many celebrities participating and most of them say that this is one of the most difficult things you can do.
2011
This year, the record for the fastest time was broken – Kenya's Emmanuel Mutai won the men's race in two hours four minutes and 39 seconds. His compatriot Mary Keitany also won the ladies race and become the fourth quickest women to do so, in 2hours and 19 minutes. Muntai’s was not the only record. Jon Morgan ran as Fred Flintstone, thus becoming the swiftest cartoon character to complete the course! There was also the craziest in a man juggling a football the whole distance. Additionally, one of the funniest – Superman himself!
My Marathon
The furthest run I’ve ever done is 10km and that wasn’t the easiest thing to do! However, one of my friends ran in a London Marathon a few years ago and he told me that it was the worst thing he’s ever had to train for – but also the most satisfying once he completed it. So I want to say well done to everyone who ran, sponsored or supported this event. You are the greatest!
Superlatives:
One Syllable Adjectives: big, slow, fast, quick, swift, great Add '-est' to end of the adjective (Note: double the final consonant if preceded by a vowel) Two Syllable Adjectives Ending in '-y': crazy, funny, easy Remove the 'y' from the adjective and add 'iest' Two, Three or More Syllable Adjectives: beautiful, difficult, satisfying The adjective doesn’t change but place 'the most' before it. Irregular Adjectives: Good
- Better – comparative
- the best – superlative
Bad
- worse – comparative
- the worst – superlative
Far
- further – comparative
- the furthest – superlative
