FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Brasher hails an extraordinary day
Event director Hugh Brasher described the 2019 Virgin Money London Marathon
as the greatest ever in the event's 38-year history this morning as he
reflected on "an extraordinary day of extraordinary performances put on by
an amazing team".
"Once again London showed how the marathon brings communities together and
shows how the family of man can be united, one of the founding pillars of
my father, Chris Brasher, and John Disley," he said.
"I can only reflect on an amazing job – from the athletic performances to
the charity fundraising and the amazing sense of community. I think that's
what society needs in these days, and it was perfectly represented by
yesterday.
"It's how London and the crowd embrace this event that makes it so
special."
On a day of so many highlights – from Eliud Kipchoge's men's course record
to Brigid Kosgei's flying finish in the women's race, to the record field
of 42,549 finishers and the event's billion pound fundraising milestone –
Brasher found it impossible to pick out one outstanding achievement.
"Whether it was Charlotte Purdue taking four minutes off her PB or Callum
Hawkins running a Scottish record," he said. "Whether it was that
incredible men's race, with a second place finish that would have been a
world record eight months ago – the fastest ever second place, the fastest
ever third place...
"Whether it was Kipchoge, the majesty in how he performed, or Kosgei
running the fastest ever second half of a marathon.
"And Daniel Romanchuk destroying the men's wheelchair field in the Flying
400 by 2.3 seconds – truly outstanding. Then Manuela Schär – I can't
remember the last time a female wheelchair racer has won here by five
minutes.
"It's the charity piece, it's the everyday stories, it's [Charity of the
Year] Dementia Revolution, and the billion-pound achievement," he
continued, referring to the event's unique landmark of raising more than £1
billion for charity.
"That's enormous," he added. "I'm absolutely certain from the figures we've
received this morning from Virgin Money Giving that we are again breaking
one-day records for fundraising. More than £300,000 was donated as part of
a new piece of technology on our app, which is just fantastic.
"And the work we've done on sustainability. We want to be world leaders on
sustainability in mass-participation events and I absolutely believe that
the data we're collecting will enable us to do that.
"It is just positive story after positive story and I couldn't be prouder
of the team that put on what we like to call the greatest marathon in the
world. Yesterday I think we showed why.
"There's always a great sense of relief of course, especially after getting
such record numbers of finishers. The planning that goes into it takes a
lot. You really have to look closely at everything."
As for the future, despite the high of Sunday's best ever Race Day, Brasher
is confident the London Marathon will continue to get better and better.
"The question of how we top it each year has been asked a few times after
the last four or five events and we've managed to do it each time," he
said.
"We have some amazing plans for 2020 when it will be our 40th race, which
is quite a milestone in itself. We're working with all our partners and
stakeholders to deliver something quite special. We have plenty of ideas."
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