Organisers plan biggest ever London Marathon after Covid vaccine rollout

Ambitious plans to allow 100,000 people to take part in this year's London Marathon have been announced.

A record 50,000 people will run in central London on October 3 with another 50,000 running 26.2 miles at a location of their choice for the virtual event.

Hugh Brasher, the marathon's event director, said he was confident the mass run could go ahead in October after Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Sunday that all adults would be offered a first vaccination dose by September.

Brasher said: "It is a terrible time at the moment.

"It is difficult in a way for a lot of people to imagine from where we are now about what October might look like but the Government has said that everyone in this country should be vaccinated by September."

Brasher, whose father Chris co-founded the London Marathon in 1981, said the vaccination programme, which has already seen 4.6 million people get their first dose, and the Government pledge meant London Marathon Events "believe in October we can deliver something that once again will show humanity and mankind at its best which was one of the original goals that my father and John Disley put into the event".

"And that's what the London Marathon has done over the last 40 years and that's absolutely what we hope to deliver on October 3 2021."

Brasher added: "human beings want to be together, we want to celebrate, it's part of what most human beings want to do, whether it's at festivals, whether it's at a pub, whether it's at a sports event, that camaraderie, that feeling of being at one, even with our differences, is something that I believe we all miss.

"And so coming up, believing that this can happen, looking at what the science is saying, that is how we can be so hopeful and optimistic about delivering this on October 3 2021."

Asked how organisers would make elite and mass race participants feel confident about taking part, Brasher said: "I think the elite is probably quite easy, they are running so quickly there aren't many people around them."

He said plans to socially distance runners had been made in 2020 before the event was made virtual only, except for elite athletes, and technology had moved forward since then. "There's still lots of unknowns. We do know that,” he added. "And we will change our plans, develop the plans, to be able to deliver what we are announcing today.

"And we will work with governments, we will work with the scientists, we will work with people in tech to do this and do it in a safe manner."

Last year's marathon was postponed from April to October due to the coronavirus pandemic and then changed to a virtual event where most participants completed the distance from home.

Everyone who entered the ballot for the 2021 Virgin Money London Marathon will find out on Monday February 8 if they have been successful.

Unsuccessful applicants will have an exclusive window from Tuesday February 9 to Tuesday February 16 to enter the virtual event. General entries will open on Tuesday February 16, on a first come, first served basis.