BBC NEWS | UK | Thousands running London Marathon BBC NEWS Thousands running London Marathon
Some 35,000 runners are taking to the streets hoping to cross the finish line at the London Marathon. The 26-mile course runs from Greenwich and Blackheath in south east London to Buckingham Palace. The forecast is for fine and warm weather, "perfect" for a marathon, with showers increasingly likely the longer people take to get round. Buster Martin, aged 101 and father of 17, is hoping to become the oldest person to complete the race. Dave Heeley, a blind runner from West Bromwich, is aiming to make London his seventh marathon, as part of the Seven Magnificent Marathons challenge run across seven continents in as many days. He has completed marathons in the Falklands, Rio de Janeiro, Los Angeles, Sydney, Dubai and Tunisia and told the BBC about the difficulties in running marathons with jet lag. He said: "The trouble is, your body clock's all over the place and although you are tired and you want to sleep, your body's sort of saying 'hey, you're normally awake at this time, come on, get up', so it's certainly been an experience." Celebrity runners The daughter and husband of multiple marathon runner Jane Tomlinson, are running together. Mrs Tomlinson, from Yorkshire, died in September after a seven-year battle with cancer during which she performed many feats of endurance and raised millions for charity. Her daughter Rebecca, 20, and husband Mike, 46, are running for Jane's Appeal, the charity she set up. The professional athletes are starting the race in Blackheath, while most of the runners leave from Greenwich Park. Paula Radcliffe, who has won the race three times and is the world marathon record-holder, has been forced to withdraw because of a toe injury. Among the runners are a man in a giant robot outfit and six Maasai warriors. The celebrity runners include chefs Gordon Ramsay and Michel Roux, Liberal Democrat mayoral hopeful Brian Paddick, and Big Brother 2002 winner Kate Lawler who is running for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust wearing underwear designed by Ann Summers. Were you watching the race? Or do you have a personal experience to share? Send us your comments and photos. Name Your E-mail address Town & Country Phone number (optional): Comments You can send your pictures to [EMAIL PROTECTED] , text them to 61124 or if you have a large file you can upload here . Read the terms and conditions At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/7344939.stm Published: 2008/04/13 08:04:11 GMT © BBC MMVIII Bring your gang together. Do your thing. Find your favourite Yahoo! group at http://in.promos.yahoo.com/groups/ To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
