Standard readers invited to redesign Marathon route

Sir Richard Branson today challenged Evening Standard readers to design a new route for the London Marathon to help make the race more "glamorous".

The billionaire boss of Virgin, which takes over sponsorship from next year, said he was looking for suggestions for radical changes to a course that has remained essentially unaltered since 1981.

Speaking exclusively to the Standard, Sir Richard, who plans to run the Marathon for the first time next year, acknowledged that the current 26-mile, 385-yard route does not showcase London at its best. He said: "I would like readers of the Standard to come up with a better route. We're very open to ideas." The change is one of a package of measures being considered to make next year's race on 25 April "more fun and glamorous".

Sir Richard said: "We are looking at lots of ideas to bring it to life. It's a fantastic institution and the best marathon in the world. What we want to do is put the icing on the cake rather than reinvent the wheel." The marathon begins in Blackheath and ends in The Mall, but for 24 miles runners are forced to pound the streets of east London where crowds are often thin and "sights" few and far between.

Only small sections of the course are by the river or in parks and apart from Buckingham Palace, little of "tourist London" is seen by the runners.