Press Release - London Marathon - 7/29/10

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

          Runners Raise Record Half a Billion Pounds for Charity

29 July 2010

The Virgin London Marathon is very pleased to announce that a record figure 
of over £50.6 million pounds was raised for charity by runners in this 
year's event held on Sunday, April 25th 2010 with £8.2 million of this 
figure raised through Virgin Money Giving. This brings the total amount 
raised for charity by runners since the race began back in 1981, to a grand 
total of more than £506 million.

This April saw the first London Marathon sponsored by Virgin, with record 
finisher figures of 36,550 (24,423 men and 12,127 women) in an event 
considered by most to be the worlds best marathon, and which continues to 
be the largest annual fundraising event in the world. A total of 783,185 
runners have now completed the London Marathon since it started back in 
1981.

Race Director, David Bedford said 'There is no other marathon or annual 
fundraising event in the world that comes close to the Virgin London 
Marathon, and we are of course very proud to announce this amazing amount, 
and immensely proud of our record as a charity fund raising event. Running 
for charity is a key aspect of the Virgin London Marathon, with runners 
taking part in the marathon in support of thousands 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 themselves who do so much to 
make the day as successful as it is'.

The 2011 Virgin London Marathon
The 2011 Virgin London Marathon will take place on Sunday April 17th 2011 
and the official charity of the 2011 London Marathon will be Oxfam.
www.virginlondonmarathon.com
www.virginmoneygiving.com

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