Public Viewing:

At the start assembly big screens show live pictures. We can watch the elite ladies starting at 9am, the wheelchair athletes at 9.25am.

Our start is at 9.45am.

Like gladiators the favoured ladies are presented when lining up.

Red Start:

There are 3 starts. Red and blue count around 15,000 runners each, the others of about 5,000 are at the green start..

At the red start all the runners gather who have got one of the Golden Bond race numbers provided by charities.

Overseas runners are at the blue start. Elite runners and British championships go off here too. The route profile is somewhat flatter here but slower runners have to pass a bottleneck after a few hundred yards.
 
 

Plucky Miki :

Irina Mikitenko was amazed about the slow speed during the early race, she later commented. Self-confidently she takes the lead and increases the pace.

This is the situation in Bermondsey between miles 11 and 12.

Flying Martin:

Defending London champion Martin Lel is easily controlling the race. He always gives the impression he could speed up at any time.

But later he too is slowed down by heavy rain and head winds.

"With more perfect conditions the world record would have been possible today," later he said.

Masses on their way:

45min later the road looks like this at the same place. Your reporter is in high spirits: No victories or records are required.

Tower Bridge:

Exactly after 20km Tower Brigde presents the top emotional moment of the race for every runner.

Masquerade:

WellChild is the charity with the mascot of big size.
Ross Carter carries it to the finish clocking 5:40:45 h.

Iron Man:

Gregory B Crease takes it literally. He is an ironing Iron Man for the whole distance of 26.2 miles.

Even on the home stretch he takes his time to stop for a well-kept shirt. He crosses the line after 5:27:40 h.

Perfectly shaved body:

What sort of men's outfitter did provide Richard W Jelfs with this eye-catching dress?

Obviously it is aerodynamic as Richard is running fast and finishes after 3:36:59 h.

Would be interesting to know which charity he was collecting for ...
(skin cancer, prostate, Blindshelp?)

Pacing up and down:

The London Eye is placed on the opposite bank of the Thames.
Less than 2 miles to go for Susie M o'Dell who will have made it after  5:27:15 h.

Teatime:

At mile 25 the clocks correspond correctly. 5:23:26 h from the start at 15:08 according to the Clocktower of  Big Ben.

Champions:

Very fast ladies take part in the UK championships. They got off in Blackheath at 9am.

Adela M Salt (212, W35) is heading for The Mall to finish in 2:47:43 h.

Final Palace Bend:

Passing Buckingham-Palace runners have 200 meters to go.

Maggie E Uden (45118, left) crosses the line after 4:40:53.

United:

The same procedure as every year:   medal, chip return, photo stop, goodie bag, kitbag - it's all organised perfectly.

With 34,506 runners counted at the finish 2008 it is the 3rd biggest London-Marathon in its 28 years. Organisers issued about 3,000 numbers less than previous year, hence there was no new record expected.

Happy Warriors:

Singing and dancing, armed with shield and spear, on cutted car tyres, 6 Maasai of Tanzania run the marathon, to raise money for their village to build up a new water supply.

Not as quick as they planned to be
(4 hrs): The marathon takes them  5:24:46 h. Their comment about the race: "We found it easy."
About London: "It is very different."

Marathon Methuselah:

Buster Martin, aged 101 according to his own statement, can't be found in the official results but he is reported to have finished after the official time keeping was closed.

However, Guinness refuses to accept him being the oldest marathon finisher ever because he is not able to verify his age. Guinness suspects he could just be 94. Anyway Buster will have won his age group ...

The Winners:

What a unique picture!
Martin Lel's (Kenia) victory is not surprising - his new course record of 2:05:15 is indeed.

Though who would have predicted that Irina Mikitenko (Germany) wins the London Marathon running the distance for only the second time.
Her time of 2:24:14 is a new German record but even more impressive is the brave and self-confident way she wins. "I am still learning and will be able to run faster," the decent lady promises quietly after the race. Irina is 35 years old, born in Kasakhstan and mother of two.

Stats London-Marathon 2008
Applications: 92,000
Accepted Runners: 45,791
Starters: 35,044
Finishers: 34,506 thereof 10,894 women (31.6%)
Last runner registered officially:  9:59:58 h
Next race: 26/04/2009
 

Overseas Runners: 2,449 (7.1%)
French: 492
Italian: 324
German: 288
Irish:  172
USA: 121
South African: 112
 

Top Ten 2008

Links
www.london-marathon.info  Everything you want to know
www.london-marathon.co.uk  official website
 

More race reports 2008
Foto-/Video-Bericht von Adrian Massey
59 photos of interAir travelgroup and winners