OTD: March 29th

On 29th March 1981 thousands of people jogged through the normally quiet Sunday streets of the capital to compete in the first ever London marathon.

Pounding along the 26-mile (41.84 km) route from Greenwich Park, in south east London, to Buckingham Palace, 6,700 participants turned out in drizzle to complete the gruelling run.

The boom of a 25 lb (11.34 kg) cannon sent the marathon runners, ranging from a 15-year-old girl to septuagenarians, on their way at 9am.

The sportsmanship of the event was evident as American Dick Beardsley, 24, and Norwegian Inge Simonsen, 25, won the race after two hours, 11 minutes and 48 seconds, crossing the tape hand in hand – Inge firmly not jumping the queue.

Not long after, Joyce Smith was the first woman to cross the line, in a time of two hours 29 minutes and 56 seconds.

About seven hours after the start Marie Dominque de Groot, 30, from Paris and David Gaiman, 47, from East Grinstead ran past the finish line, like the winners of the race – also holding hands, as the final contestants across the line.

The marathon was the brainchild of Chris Brasher, former Olympic Steeplechaser, and was organised with a budget of £100,000 from which 2,000 foil blankets, 75 portable lavatories, 400 gallons of coffee and 50,000 plastic cups were supplied. More than 22,000 people wanted to run but the figure was kept to 7,590 by police.

Taking in the banks of the Thames and the City of London, the course contained more turns than its New York sister event and was 30 yards longer than the official marathon distance of 26 miles 385 yards.

At regular intervals 1,000 volunteer helpers marked the route, joined by 500 special constables, 26 first-aid stations and 300 St John Ambulance personnel while cardiac unit was on hand at Constitution Hill.

The following year more than 90,000 people from across the world applied to take part. These days the number of participants averages more than 30,000. The event has become synonymous with great athletic achievement, whilst many also wear fancy dress costumes – one couple even married during one event.

This year's event on 28th April, in accordance with the ever-growing tide of commercialism in what passes for this modern-day world, is to be officially known as the "Virgin Bridal GSQkZ Private Equity Partners (Belize) London Snickers".

Not really.

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