Press Release - London Marathon - 9/8/11

           Another Record Charity Haul by London Marathon Runners

Runners in the 2011 Virgin London Marathon set yet another record figure 
for charity fund raising when they collected £51.8 million for good causes 
at this year's race.

It is the fifth consecutive year that London Marathon entrants have broken 
the Guinness World Record for charity fund raising at a single annual event 
worldwide and brings the total raised for hundreds of charitable causes 
since the race began in 1981 to £557.8 million.

This year's figure is an especially impressive total as there were five per 
cent fewer finishers than in 2010 when a record 36,550 crossed the finish 
line in The Mall.

There were 34,705 London Marathon finishers on Sunday 17 April 2011, 
meaning that in total 817,890 runners have now completed the race since it 
started 30 years ago.

"We are extremely pleased to announce another amazing record amount of 
money raised for charities by London Marathon runners," said Virgin London 
Marathon race director David Bedford.

"The fact that this figure increased again for the fifth year in a row, 
despite having fewer finishers, shows just how committed our runners are to 
raising funds for good causes.

"There is no other marathon that comes close to us as an annual fund 
raising event. In fact, there is no other annual fund raising event 
worldwide that raises as much money as we do for charities.

"Running for charity is a key aspect of the London Marathon, with runners 
supporting hundreds of different charitable causes. It's not only the 
runners themselves who add colour and excitement to the event, it's the 
charity support teams who do so much to make the day as successful as it 
is."

Five record years of charity fund raising:
2007 	£46.5 million
2008 	£46.7 million
2009 	£47.2 million
2010 	£50.6 million
2011 	£51.8 million

The 2012 Virgin London Marathon is on Sunday 22 April 2012 when the 
official charities will be the Prostate Cancer Charity and Breast Cancer 
Care (see: www.teampb.org.uk).

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