Running London's greatest show

The London Marathon is one of the world's largest mass-participation marathons. Sarah Notton talks to its operations director, Lisa Thompson, about what is involved in organising this great sporting institution.

As anyone who has participated or been a spectator at the London Marathon will know, it is an event like no other. For one amazing day every April, the streets of London are filled with crowds cheering on runners of all abilities who have trained for months for the chance to complete the gruelling, 26.2-mile course. A record 39,140 people finished the course in 2016.

Backing up this grit and determination is an enormous logistical operation to deliver the event. First staged in 1981, the London Marathon has grown to become a national institution of fun, fitness and fundraising that has raised millions for charity. It is a major challenge to ensure that marathon day is safe, enjoyable and memorable for runners and spectators.

Lisa Thompson, operations director at London Marathon Events, is proud to be involved: “Everyone
loves the London Marathon. Even taxi drivers are hard pushed to criticise it. It has tremendous resonance with so many people and is, I believe, one of Britain’s greatest sporting festivals. After 36 years and a million finishers, virtually everyone knows someone who has run the London Marathon.”

A former international-standard middle-distance runner, Thompson has been working for London Marathon Events since 1994, and has been its operations director since 2008. Her 16-strong team works across a portfolio of seven events, the newest of which is Swim Serpentine, a festival of open-water swimming that was held for the first time in September 2016. She is passionate about her involvement with the London Marathon.

“One of the reasons it is so great to work on,” she says, “is that it is held in such high regard by so many people, including the hundreds of stakeholders we engage with each year. People work really hard to ensure the London Marathon’s continued success.”

Large-scale logistics

Unsurprisingly, the challenges come thick and fast, explains Thompson: “London is a huge, complex and ever-changing city. It is amazing that, as we approach the 37th London Marathon, the route has
not changed significantly.

“Last year, we were grappling with the installation of the Cycle Superhighway, which was a huge project. Transport for London had been in close communication throughout the build, and, like many projects, it went absolutely to the wire. At lunchtime on the Friday before the race, I was looking at unfinished sections, thinking it was doubtful it would get done.

“But, of course, it did, and the desire to make that happen – from the contractors on the ground to the project managers taking the stress – was a great example of how, when there is a will and a common goal, you can achieve anything.”

Managing multiple stakeholders

Stakeholder management is a huge part of the team’s day-to-day work: “We have regular planning meetings with stakeholders that include all the boroughs on the course, emergency services, transport services and more. We invite all the relevant stakeholders to detailed planning group meetings and we use a file-sharing site to upload documents, so stakeholders can download and read at their leisure.”

Thompson continues: “We also have a very close relationship with BBC Sport, our host broadcaster, and hold regular meetings with the BBC team to plan the huge outside-broadcast operation on race day.”

She is a great advocate of the view that a problem shared is a problem solved: “I’ve always found that problems are solved best when discussed with the team. We have a wide range of people in our team with all sorts of different experience and skills. Sometimes, the answer comes from an unlikely source.”

A continuous learning process

Learning legacy is also important for the team: “In terms of efficiencies, we have learnt the hard way over the years. This includes understanding that one large lorry to deliver equipment is usually more efficient than several smaller ones.”

Thompson explains how the team deals with the stress involved in putting on such a high-profile event: “We have a mantra in our department when the stress builds during the last few weeks of planning, the working hours get longer and longer, and fatigue really starts to set in. We say ‘but it’s only a running race!’

“The London Marathon is, of course, much more than that, but sometimes you need to clear your head and strip it back to bare bones. Remember what you are trying to deliver and why. Then get back to work.”

The Virgin Money London Marathon will take place on 23 April 2017. For more information and to enter the 2018 ballot, go to virginmoneylondonmarathon.com.

The London Marathon in numbers

• More than 1 million people have finished the marathon
• More than £770m has been raised for charity (2015 figures)
• 35 articulated lorries transport the runners' bags from the start to the finish
• 50km of barriers keep runners and spectators sage
• 400,000 passengers were carried by the Docklands Light Railway on marathon day in 2016