每年四月，伦敦都会迎来一年一度的马拉松赛。在比赛当天，伦敦市中心和东区的道路都会被封锁，近四万名参赛者将浩浩荡荡地经过众多伦敦地标性建筑。伦敦马拉松赛已经不仅仅是一项体育赛事，它对人们有更深的影响。让我们一起来了解一下吧。

When did it all begin? 伦敦马拉松赛是什么时候开始的？

The London Marathon started in 1981: a guy called Chris Brasher founded the very first race. It’s been held every year since then.

伦敦马拉松赛是1981 年开始举办的，名为Chris Brasher 的人发起了这项赛事。现在每年都会举行一届伦敦马拉松赛。

小知识:

Where did the word ‘marathon’ come from?“马拉松”这个词的由来是什么？

According to records, the Greeks won a battle over the Persians in 490BC.The battle was in a place called Marathon. A Greek soldier then ran from Marathon to Athens（24.8 miles） to report the victory. Sadly, the long run was too much for him: he collapsed and died!

据说公元前490年的时候，希腊人在一个名叫Marathon的地方打败了波斯人。之后有位希腊士兵从Marathon 跑到雅典(24.8英里)把胜利的好消息告诉给大家。另人悲伤的是，由于路程遥远，这为士兵跑到半路累的摊倒在地之后永远的离开了人世。

The distance 伦敦马拉松的全程距离

The total distance of the London Marathon is 26.2 miles (that’s 42.16 kilometers). It’s the same as the Olympic Marathon. This comes from the story that in the 1908 London Olympics,the marathon length was a little bit longer, so that the royal family could watch the start of the race from Windsor Castle, and the end of the race at the Olympic stadium.

伦敦马拉松赛的全程距离是26.2英里（42.16公里）。这和奥运会马拉松赛的路程距离是一样的。据说在1908年伦敦奥运会上，马拉松赛的距离被加长了一点点，这是为了让皇室成员可以在温莎城堡看比赛的开始，在奥运主会场看比赛的结束终点。

Unusual running gear 赛跑者奇异的参赛服装

It’s hard enough to run a marathon with the lightest outfit, but in 2002, a charity runner Lloyd Scott put on a deep sea diving suit which weighed about 50kg. No wonder it took ages for him to cross the finish line. In fact, he finished the race in 5 days and 8 hours. Since then, new rules have been put in place – you must finish the race within 24 hours.

跑全程马拉松赛已经很不容易了，一般参赛者都是轻装上阵。不过在2002年，名为 Lloyd Scott 的慈善参赛者身着一套足足有50公斤重的深海潜水服来参加比赛。可想而知，他的赛时一定很长，最后他竟然用了5天8小时的时间才走完了整个赛程。在此之后，组织方也做出新规定，要求所有参赛者在24小时内必须得完成马拉松赛。

World Records 世界纪录

It’s not just the professional runners who take the London Marathon so seriously. The charity runners make the race truly unique and special for spectators. Every year, lots of people tryto break official Guinness World Records. Past attempts included the ‘fastest man dressed as a toilet’, the ‘fastest marathon while wearing high heels’, the‘fastest marathon while carrying golf clubs’ and many many more!

不仅仅是职业选手对伦敦马拉松赛特别重视，其实许多为了慈善事业参与比赛的人们更是给赛事添加了很多与众不同的色彩，他们的参与也使观众感受到这些参与者给比赛带来的特殊意义。每年都有很多参赛者企图要打破各种吉尼斯世界纪录，过去的一些大胆尝试包括“扮成厕所跑得最快的选手”，“最快速度穿高跟鞋跑马拉松选手”，“最快速度背高尔夫球杆跑马拉松选手”，等等很多其他稀奇古怪的参赛形象呢！

A few marathon-related words 和马拉松赛有关的词语