If you are going to emerge, you might as well do it with a major statement. That seems to be the way for organisers of the 2021 London Marathon who have announced they will stage a race for 50,000 physical participants and 50,000 virtual runners in October.

In 2020 almost 40,000 took part in a virtual race, recording their own times having completed the distance in their own locality.

Whether the decision on 2021 is prompted by uncertainty over the feasibility of mass participation events this year or is a more permanent step into allowing people to race on their own terms is not yet clear.

“The London Marathon is a wonderful example of sport as a force for good while raising millions for charity,” said Race Director Chris Brasher.

“It’s all about communities and people coming together and one of our founding pillars is ‘to have fun and provide some happiness and a sense of achievement in a troubled world.”

“The world record-breaking success of the virtual event in 2020 and the incredible stories from participants across the globe showed how the world’s greatest marathon brought light and hope in the darkness of the pandemic.”

“We want to offer that again and we have also accelerated the plans we have been working on for some years to increase the number of finishers on the streets of London to 50,000.”

“People can run wherever they are in the world, they can run for charity, they can run for their mental or physical health, or run for the sheer enjoyment of it – whatever the reason, they will be part of a unique day in the history of the London Marathon on Sunday, October 3rd.”

The London Marathon is typically held in April. If this shift in 2020 and 2021 was to become permanent it would be a concern to organisers of the KBC Dublin Marathon who stage their event on the Sunday of the October Bank Holiday Weekend.

Bringing runners in from around the world is a major benefit for the host city in terms of sports tourism and having two so close together physically and now in the calendar would not be ideal.

Sport for Business Partners