The story
London Marathon in London
Since 1981, the London Marathon has sent runners from separate starts near Greenwich and Blackheath along a landmark-heavy course past Tower Bridge and the Thames to a finish on The Mall by Buckingham Palace, with a huge share of the field running for charity in costumes and fundraising vests, backed by crowds who read names off race bibs to cheer strangers home.
The London Marathon has run since 1981, sending tens of thousands of runners on a course that stitches together some of the city's best-known landmarks into one long, hard loop: starting from separate points around Greenwich and Blackheath, the field merges into a single route past Cutty Sark, over Tower Bridge, along the Thames through Canary Wharf, and finally onto The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace.