The Active Holiday Company represents India at the Virgin Money London Marathon 2014

London Marathon

In what I consider to be incredible breaking news, for the first time ever that a world major running event, The Virgin Money London Marathon is being represented directly by an Indian Company – The Active Holiday Company.

Marathons such as the Virgin Money London Marathon usually have a limited number of slots for overseas nationals and the competition for these slots is just so tough that most international runners never even get a chance to see the face of the registration form for this event.

But with this latest development, us, non-elite runners also have a guaranteed spot of being part of this fun filled extravaganza of an event.

The Virgin Money London Marathon is one of the top six world marathons that form a part of the World Marathon Majors and is considered to be one of the best organized marathons in the world.

This event attracts both amateur as well as top marathoners internationally. The 2013 marathon witnessed as many as 34,631 participants and over the 32 year-long history of the marathon, a total of 9,17,224 runners have completed the race.

Typically, entries for the Virgin Money London Marathon open 11 months before the race and each year’s ballot attracts more than 1,00,000 applicants. With a limit of 35,000 runners for the race – many of them reserved for UK nationals, the chances of getting a confirmed race entry for international runners are very poor.

With India finally being individually represented, we can now have the joy of including this race within our touring circuit. With fitness and travel being the best combination ever, this development now can help us kick start our Euro Tour plans with an event like this.

The picturesque London Marathon course covers some of the most iconic spots in the city, taking runners across architectural and historic marvels such as the Old Royal Navy College, the Tower Bridge, with the penultimate mile offering a view of the London Eye, the Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, and finishing alongside St. James’s Palace.

Other popular international running events include the Berlin Marathon, the Paris Marathon, the ING New York Marathon, the Tokyo Marathon and the Boston Marathon. Those looking for something different can lean towards races like the Great Wall Marathon or the ultra Comrades race in South Africa.

Developments like these are proof to exhibit that fitness as a lifestyle is catching on like wildfire. And awareness among the population as to the health benefits is on the rise as well.

It is really heartening to know that we are making headway into this circuit to make our presence felt as a nation of runners (and not just cricketers). Three cheers to The Active Holiday Company for taking a step in this positive direction and looking forward to many more updates about new running majors being included in this list.