Sport This article is more than 17 years oldThe smallest marathon in the world
This article is more than 17 years oldWhile 34,000 runners slogged round London last Sunday, I was taking part in the world's smallest marathon, on Tresco in the Isles of Scilly. I'm not sure whether "smallest" refers to the number of competitors (130) or the circuit (3.6 miles). But it certainly doesn't refer to the distance - participants are expected to do seven and a half laps ie the full 26.2 miles. What's worse, each lap has four hills, making London a doddle in comparison. Only one runner on Tresco finished in under three hours.
The event was dreamt up by Pete Hingston, whose daughter Jade suffers from cystic fibrosis, a condition that affects 7,500 children and adolescents in the UK, most of whom will die before they reach adulthood. Hingston planned to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust by running in the London marathon, but as head chef at the one hotel on the island he couldn't afford the time off (going to London from Tresco takes longer than it would from New York). So, six years ago, with just 28 runners, the race was born. It always coincides with the London marathon, but there the resemblances end. Nobody on Tresco dresses up in a furry costume (though we did have one Elvis). The absence of cars means no roads have to be cleared. And instead of winding through streets, the figure-of-eight route takes you past beaches of white sand, gorse bushes, daffodil fields, pheasants, a reed-lined lake, a museum of ships' figureheads, and (ominously, by the fourth or fifth time) a country graveyard.
This year the event featured a team of celebrities, including Jenny Agutter (a carrier of the CF gene), Charlie Dimmock, and ex-400m runner Mark Richardson. Heading the celebs and urging on the rest of the field was Bill Bryson, who acted as starter last year and was so taken by the beauty of the island that, despite having a body more suited to wrestling than to running, he returned this year as a participant.
It is easy to see why people become addicted. Instead of large crowds lining the route, there are breakers and seagulls. And as well as tea and a massage at the finish, you're offered a Cornish pastie.
Amateur runners can be a nerdy lot, collecting marathons (London, Paris, New York) like bumper stickers. That's why marathons are big business these days. But the Tresco event can't really expand, because of the lack of accommodation on the island and the logistics of getting people on and off by boat and helicopter. And as long as it stays intimate, its charm will remain. After the evening medals ceremony at the islanders' community centre - at which every participant was cheered on to the stage - I watched a man walk over the sand dunes, cross the beach, chuck his running shoes and medal into a boat, pull on a pair of sea-boots, and row off across the strait to a nearby island. Now you don't get that anywhere else.
ยท For more information about the Cystic Fibrosis Trust contact www.cftrust.org.uk or call 020-8464-7211
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