<P> In addition to being one of the top six international marathons run over the distance of 26 miles and 385 yards, the IAAF standard for the marathon established in 1921 and originally used for the 1908 London Olympics, the London Marathon is also a large, celebratory sporting festival, third only to the Great North Run in Newcastle upon Tyne and Great Manchester Run in Manchester in terms of the number of participants . The event has raised over £ 450 million for charity since 1981, and holds the Guinness world record as the largest annual fund raising event in the world, with the 2009 participants raising over £ 47.2 million for charity . In 2007, 78% of all runners raised money . In 2011 the official charity of the London Marathon was Oxfam . In 2014, the official charity was Anthony Nolan, and in 2015, it was Cancer Research UK . </P> <P> The London Marathon was not the first long - distance running event held in the city, which has a long history of marathon events . The Polytechnic Marathon (also known as the Poly) was first held in 1909 . </P> <P> The current London Marathon was founded in 1981 by former Olympic champion and journalist Chris Brasher and athlete John Disley . Shortly after completing the New York City Marathon in November 1979 Brasher wrote an article for The Observer newspaper which began: </P> <P> To believe this story you must believe that the human race be one joyous family, working together, laughing together, achieving the impossible . Last Sunday, in one of the most trouble - stricken cities in the world, 11,532 men and women from 40 countries in the world, assisted by over a million black, white and yellow people, laughed, cheered and suffered during the greatest folk festival the world has seen . </P>

Where does the london marathon start and finish