London Landmarks Half Marathon marked its inaugural race on Sunday by raising over £4million for charity and breaking two Guinness World Records.
Years in the making, the race is the first of its kind through the City of London and saw over 10,000 runners and celebrities along the 13.1-mile course.
Hosted by charity Tommy’s, the pre-event fundraising target of £4m is understood to have been broken with further donations expected over the coming weeks.
Those competing went from Pall Mall to Downing Street along a route designed to take in as many attractions as possible; including Big Ben, St Paul’s Cathedral, Nelson’s Column, the Gherkin, the Shard, the Tower of London and the London Eye.
Ben Green and his father Graham Green were the first two over the finish line, breaking the ‘Fastest Father and Son Combined Time in a Half Marathon’ record with a time of two hours 24 minutes and 47 seconds.
Ben, who won the race in a time of one hour 10 minutes and 57 seconds, said: “We smashed the record and it will be tough for someone to beat that time, so we’re really happy!”
He added; “The course is amazing, I would say it’s up there with the London Marathon course. It’s pretty special because of the number of landmarks, it’s great for spectators too.”
Graham, who recorded a time of one hour 13 minutes and 50 seconds, said: “When Ben was little I was in my 20’s and running, then he started when he was a schoolboy and as he grew up we started running together.”
Shortly afterwards, Pardip Minhas from Hayes set a new Guinness World Record for ‘Fastest Half Marathon in a Straitjacket’ in a time of one hour 43 minutes and 43 seconds.
“It feels surreal to be a World Record Holder,” he said. “I’m absolutely over the moon, I’ve got a runners buzz! I stayed with the pace maker from start to finish to give myself a good idea that I would get the record.
“It’s an absolutely fantastic course, It just was the perfect race, the weather, the course was absolutely fantastic. It was one of the best races I’ve run recently.
“For anyone going for a pb on a half marathon this would be a perfect, perfect course.”
source: standard.co.uk
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