The 2012 Olympic Marathon Course is that of both the men's and

women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

races at the 2012 Olympic and

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

Games in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The route consists of one short circuit of followed by three circuits of . The course, which was designed to pass many of London's well-known landmarks, starts and finishes on The Mall, within sight of

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

, and extends as far as the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

in the east and the Victoria Memorial in the west. The route of the marathon had been changed, for various logistical reasons, from that originally envisaged in London's original 2005 bid for the Games and broke with the normal Olympic tradition that the race finishes inside the main

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

. The 2012 Summer Olympics was the third to be held in London. The stated distance of the marathon at the London

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were o ...

– 26 miles and 385 yards, later converted to metric units as 42.195 kilometres – formed the basis of the standard distance adopted by

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

in 1921.

The course

Leadenhall Market In London - Feb 2006 rotated

The route, as confirmed in October 2010, starts on The Mall about 350 metres from the Victoria MemorialThis reference
shows the 26-mile mark as being in front of the Victoria Memorial leaving 385 yards (350 metres) to the end point (which is also the start point). and has four laps, finishing at the start point. It follows the

Victoria Embankment Victoria Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and river-walk along the north bank of the River Thames in London. It runs from the Palace of Westminster to Blackfriars Bridge in the City of London, and acts as a major thoroughfar ...

towards the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

where it takes a winding route and continues eastwards to

Tower Hill Tower Hill is the area surrounding the Tower of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher gro ...

. At this point there is a U-turn and the route heads westwards, again using the Embankment as far as the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north b ...

and thence back to The Mall. The last three laps are identical and are exactly 8 miles (12.875 km) each. The first lap, which only incorporates the south-western section of the route, is 2 miles and 385 yards (3.571 km) long. A summary of the course and associated distance points is given below:

Route description

Runner's World ''Runner's World'' is a globally circulated monthly magazine for runners of all skills sets, published by Hearst in Easton, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Before its acquisition by Hearst, it was founded and published by Rodale, Inc. in Em ...

'' described the course as "picturesque" as well as "labyrinthine", noting that included among the 111 turns or bends are four

U-turn A U-turn in driving refers to performing a 180° rotation to reverse the direction of travel. It is called a "U-turn" because the maneuver looks like the letter U. In some areas, the maneuver is illegal, while in others, it is treated as a ...

s. The marathon route starts part way along The Mall and, heading away from

proceeds through Admiralty Arch and past

Nelson's Column Nelson's Column is a monument in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, Central London, built to commemorate Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's decisive victory at the Battle of Trafalgar over the combined French and Spanish navies, during whic ...

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...

. A slight turn to the right onto Northumberland Avenue which drops down to near river-level over a distance of 350 metres (a little under a quarter of a mile).Computed from

Google Earth Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...

on 31 May 2012; cross-checked on On the first lap the runners turn right and continue along the

, on subsequent laps they turn left and pass under the

Hungerford Bridge The Hungerford Bridge crosses the River Thames in London, and lies between Waterloo Bridge and Westminster Bridge. Owned by Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd (who use its official name of Charing Cross Bridge) it is a steel truss railway brid ...

and follow the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

on its downstream path. The Embankment is the longest "straight" stretch in the race, about 1,500 m (nearly a mile) on the outbound leg and 2,100 m on the return leg. It leads the runners past

Cleopatra's Needle Cleopatra's Needles are a separated pair of ancient Egyptian obelisks now in London and New York City. The obelisks were originally made in Heliopolis (modern Cairo) during the New Kingdom period, inscribed by the 18th dynasty pharaoh Thutmose I ...

and the heraldic lions that symbolically defend the limits of the City of London. After

Blackfriars station Blackfriars, also known as London Blackfriars, is a central London railway station and connected London Underground station in the City of London. It provides Thameslink services: local (from North to South London), and regional (Bedford an ...

(at the end of the Embankment), the course climbs

Puddle Dock Puddle Dock is a street in Blackfriars in the City of London. It was once the site of one of London's docks, and was later the site of the Mermaid Theatre. The dock was filled in during redevelopment in the 1960s and 1970s. As a dock Berkel ...

, a short but steep 16-metre hill from

Upper Thames Street Thames Street, divided into Lower and Upper Thames Street, is a road in the City of London, the historic and financial centre of London. It forms part of the busy A3211 route (prior to being rebuilt as a major thoroughfare in the late 1960s, it ...

to Queen Victoria Street which is paved with cobblestones, before reaching the race's highest point of 18 metres on

Ludgate Hill Ludgate Hill is a street and surrounding area, on a small hill in the City of London. The street passes through the former site of Ludgate, a city gate that was demolished – along with a gaol attached to it – in 1760. The area include ...

close to the south portal of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London ...

. The route passes around the west end of the cathedral, across

Paternoster Square Paternoster Square is an urban development, owned by the Mitsubishi Estate, next to St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. The area, which takes its name from Paternoster Row, once centre of the London publishing trade, was devastated b ...

, behind

St Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust. History Early history Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (die ...

and eventually along a winding route including St. Martin's Le Grand, onto

Cheapside Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, which forms part of the A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St. Martin's Le Grand with Poultry. Near its eastern end at Bank junction, whe ...

. On the third lap, runners cross the half way mark within sight of

St Mary-le-Bow The Church of St Mary-le-Bow is a Church of England parish church in the City of London. Located on Cheapside, one of the city's oldest and most important thoroughfares, the church was founded in 1080 by Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury. Rebuil ...

and within earshot of the "Bow Bells". Leaving Cheapside, the route then goes through the heart of the city, past the offices of many of the world's best known (and lesser known) banks into the Guildhall Yard, home of the

Corporation of London The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United Ki ...

. From the Guildhall, the route passes the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government o ...

at Bank junction and down Cornhill, passing the Royal Exchange. At the end of Cornhill, continuing onto a small portion of

Leadenhall Street __NOTOC__ Leadenhall Street () is a street in the City of London. It is about and links Cornhill in the west to Aldgate in the east. It was formerly the start of the A11 road from London to Norwich, but that route now starts further east at ...

, a right-turn takes the runners into the covered

Leadenhall Market Leadenhall Market is a covered market in London, located on Gracechurch Street but with vehicular access also available via Whittington Avenue to the north and Lime Street to the south and east, and additional pedestrian access via a number o ...

. Competitors then make their way onto

Eastcheap Eastcheap is a street in central London that is a western continuation of Great Tower Street towards Monument junction. Its name derives from ''cheap'', the Old English word for market, with the prefix 'East' distinguishing it from Westcheap, ...

, via Fenchurch Street and Gracechurch Street, and on towards the

. On

, a short distance from the Tower's moat, the course makes a U-turn back to Lower Thames Street at the start of the return leg. Leaving Lower Thames Street, the route reaches The Monument dedicated to the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past th ...

. After The Monument, the return leg has far fewer bends than the outward leg, as it takes the runners along the relatively straight and flat 1,600 m stretch following

Cannon Street Cannon Street is a road in the City of London, the historic nucleus of London and its modern financial centre. It runs roughly parallel with the River Thames, about north of it, in the south of the City. It is the site of the ancient London ...

and back onto Queen Victoria Street. An S-bend takes the runners back onto the Victoria Embankment, at the far end of which are the Houses of Parliament. About 600 m before the end of the Embankment they rejoin the route taken on the first lap and pass the

London Eye The London Eye, or the Millennium Wheel, is a cantilevered observation wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. It is Europe's tallest cantilevered observation wheel, and is the most popular paid tourist attraction in the Unite ...

on the opposite side of the river. On the first lap, runners turn left onto

Westminster Bridge Westminster Bridge is a road-and-foot-traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side. The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats in the ...

, making a U-turn on the bridge before rejoining the main route. On the other laps, runners turn right at the end of the Embankment, and continue past

Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England, and the name is frequently extended to refer also to the clock and the clock tower. The officia ...

and

Parliament Square Parliament Square is a square at the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster in central London. Laid out in the 19th century, it features a large open green area in the centre with trees to its west, and it contai ...

and towards Buckingham Palace via

Birdcage Walk Birdcage Walk is a street in the City of Westminster in London. It runs east–west as a continuation of Great George Street, from the crossroads with Horse Guards Road and Storey's Gate, with the Treasury building and the Institution of Mech ...

on the periphery of

St James's Park St James's Park is a park in the City of Westminster, central London. It is at the southernmost tip of the St James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St James the Less. It is the most easterly of a near-continuous ch ...

. As the runners approach the palace, another right turn brings the Victoria Memorial into view. The memorial, at the south-western end of the kilometre-long Mall, brings them past the start line which, on the last circuit, is also the finish line. The distances relative to the lap start point of various prominent landmarks passed on the route are shown in the table below:
Offsets from markers on map calculated by

interpolation In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points. In engineering and science, one often has ...

Changes to original proposal

When London submitted its bid for the Olympic Games in 2004, the bid chairman

Sebastian Coe Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including 1500 metres gold medal ...

said: "The marathon course has been designed to include as many of the city's landmarks as possible". Although the final route is different from the one proposed in the bid, it still passes many notable landmarks. Originally the route was planned to start at

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel. It crosses the River Thames clos ...

, run through Tower Hamlets and finish at the

. It would have had a 580 m "run-in", three laps of 11.61 km circuiting

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

and passing through or close to the

, the

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

, Green Park,

, the

Mall Mall commonly refers to a: * Shopping mall * Strip mall * Pedestrian street * Esplanade Mall or MALL may also refer to: Places Shopping complexes * The Mall (Sofia) (Tsarigradsko Mall), Sofia, Bulgaria * The Mall, Patna, Patna, Bihar, India ...

Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...

, and the

. After the final circuit, the route would then have headed east for 7.34 km, along Whitechapel Road and Mile End Road, towards the

Olympic Park An Olympic Park is a sports campus for hosting the Olympic Games. Typically it contains the Olympic Stadium and the International Broadcast Centre. It may also contain the Olympic Village or some of the other sports venues, such as the aquatics ...

and a finish in the Olympic Stadium. In September 2010 it was reported that the London Organising Committee were considering alternative routes for the 2012 Olympic Marathon as the original route would not be "television-friendly" in London's East-end. After details of the new route had been published, the organisers defended their decision on grounds that the original route would have potentially disrupted other events due to road closures. The changes rerouted the section between Trafalgar Square and St Paul's Cathedral from The Strand to the Victoria Embankment (past Cleopatra's Needle) which would then be bi-directional. It also removed Whitechapel Road and Tower Bridge from the route, while adding the Guildhall Yard and Leadenhall Market. The removal of The Strand from the route allows

Waterloo Bridge Waterloo Bridge () is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges. Its name commemorates the victory of the British, Dutch and Prussians at t ...

and Blackfriars Bridge to remain open to traffic. On 27 May 2012, less than two months before the event, ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' reported another potential logistical problem facing games organisers. In light of the size of the crowds turning out to watch the torch relay, estimates of crowd sizes for the marathon were revised and now suggest that up to 1.5 million people might turn up to watch the event. As there is only a pavement capacity of about 150,000 along the key streets of the event, contingency plans to avoid dangerous overcrowding are being considered.

Official measurement of the course

The official measurement of the course took place at 2 a.m. on 13 June 2012. It was carried out by David Katz, a member of the IAAF Technical Committee, using a bicycle fitted with a

Jones Counter The Jones Counter is a device fitted to the front wheel of a bicycle that counts the revolutions of the wheel. It was invented in 1971 by Alan Jones in order to measure the length of road running race courses. The counter has gears that drive a mec ...

. He was accompanied by two other measurers: Hugh Jones of London, who estimated he had been over the course more than 20 times in the 10 years since London first started assembling its bid, and Mike Sandford.

Compliance with international rules and testing

All international competitions in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

, including the Olympic games, are governed under the rules of the International Association of Athletics Federations. The IAAF rules define the standard length of the marathon as 42.195 km and specifically state that the course must not be less than this distance. The rules further state that in Olympic competition the standard distance may not be exceeded by more than 0.1%. In order for a marathon performance to be ratified as a world record by the IAAF, the course must also meet other criteria that rule-out "artificially fast times" produced on courses aided by downhill slope or tailwind: the distance between start and end points when measured in a straight line should not exceed 50% of the length of the course (21.092 km in the case of the marathon); and the difference in altitude between the start and end points should be no more than 0.1% of the course length (42.19 m). World records for intermediate distances (i.e. 5 km, 10 km, 20 km, and 30 km) must meet similar requirements. The rules also state that "the distance in kilometres on the route shall be displayed to all athletes" and require that water and refreshments be provided at approximately 5 km intervals. A successful test of the course, its technology and technical aspects, was completed in May 2011 when a test event of the full marathon distance was held. The event included thirty-nine elite athletes.

Performances on the course

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' reported that runners, who took part in the test event in May 2011, said that a world record would not be set on the course due to its windy layout and the later start times, a view echoed in reports in ''

Competitor Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...

'' and ''

'' magazines. Commentators also noted that the cobblestones on the "brief but steep" hill in the vicinity of St Pauls would present further challenges to the runners. In the women's marathon that took place on Sunday 5 August 2012, Tiki Gelana of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

set a new women's marathon Olympic record of , clipping 7 seconds off the previous record. The new Olympic record was 7min 42sec slower than

Paula Radcliffe Paula Jane Radcliffe MBE (born 17 December 1973) is a former British long-distance runner. She is a three-time winner of the London Marathon (2002, 2003, 2005), three-time New York Marathon champion (2004, 2007, 2008), and 2002 Chicago Marath ...

's world record set in 2003 during the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...

. The winning time of 2:08:01 by Stephen Kiprotich of

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...

in the men's marathon, on 12 August 2012, was outside the Olympic marathon record and outside the world marathon record. The winners of the Paralympic marathon events were: * T12 Men's Marathon –

Alberto Suarez Laso Alberto is the Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic '' Albert''. It is used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The diminutive forms are ''Albertito'' in Spain or ''Albertico'' in some parts of Latin America, Alber ...

– 2:24:50, a new world record. * T46 Men's Marathon – Tito Sena – 2:30:40, 3:37 slower than the world record of 2:27:04 set in 2008. * T54 Men's Marathon – David Weir – 1:30:20, 10:06 slower than the world record of 1:20:14 set in 1999. * T54 Women's Marathon – Shirley Reilly – 1:46:33, 8:01 slower than the world record of 1:38:32 set in 2001.

Comparisons with the London Marathon course

The 2012 Olympic route differed significantly from that of the long-established annual

. Although the Olympic route shared a finish in The Mall and a section along the Victoria Embankment with the regular London Marathon course, the Olympic event also started in The Mall whilst the London Marathon starts in Greenwich, and the event followed an otherwise different course. The logistical problems behind the design of the London Marathon course (35,000 runners of mixed ability) are very different from those behind the design of the London Olympic Marathon course (100 top-class runners) hence the difference in the routes.

London 2012 Paralympic Marathon comparison

The course for the Paralympic Marathon also had four laps which were nearly identical to the 2012 Olympic Marathon course, but avoided certain cobbled areas notably Paternoster Square, the Guildhall Yard, Leadenhall Market and the Monument. The start and finish lines on The Mall are separated.

Previous London Olympic routes

London has hosted the Olympic games on two previous occasions in 1908 and in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

. The marathon route was different on both occasions and the 2012 route follows yet another route.

1908 route

The 1908 games were originally to have been held in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, but in April 1906

Mount Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ; it, Vesuvio ; nap, 'O Vesuvio , also or ; la, Vesuvius , also , or ) is a somma-stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of ...

erupted causing damage to nearby

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

. Italy did not have the resources to stage the games and to rebuild Naples, so London was asked to stage the games. At this time there was no standard length for a marathon, and the 1908 marathon course was originally to have been 25 miles, passing through Uxbridge, Ruislip, Harrow-on-the-Hill before ending at the

White City Stadium White City Stadium was a stadium located in White City, London, England. Built for the 1908 Summer Olympics, it hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and other sports like swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock ca ...

. It was extended to 26 miles and 385 yards (42.195 km) to avoid troublesome cobbles and tram lines, because of access restrictions at Windsor Castle and to improve visibility to the spectators, including

Queen Alexandra Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 to 6 May 1910 as the wife of ...

, for the finishing stretch inside the stadium.Wilcock, Bob (March 2008). "The 1908 Olympic Marathon". '' Journal of Olympic History''. Volume 16 Issue 1. This distance subsequently became the official length of the marathon.

1948 route

In 1948, London hosted the first Olympic Games to be held after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the "austerity games". The marathon started and ended at the

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. It was only three years since the end of the war and London still had considerable bomb damage. Unlike the 2012 games, where the route was chosen to show off central London, the 1948 marathon was run along a route that took the runners from Wembley, through

Mill Hill Mill Hill is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is situated around northwest of Charing Cross. Mill Hill was in the historic county of Middlesex until 1965, when it became part of Greater London. Its population counted 18,4 ...

, the towns of

Borehamwood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly know ...

Elstree Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, that follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of t ...

and

Radlett Radlett is a village in Hertfordshire, England, between Elstree and St Albans on Watling Street, with a population of 8,042. It is in the council district of Hertsmere in the south of the county, and is covered by two wards; Aldenham East an ...

and back to Wembley, thereby avoiding the bomb damage in central London.

Notes

References

External links

* {{World Marathon Majors 2012 2012 Olympic Marathon Olympic Marathon Course, 2012 Olympic athletics venues Road running venues