Brighton Marathon

The Brighton Marathon is a road race run over the distance of 42.195 km or 26 miles and 385 yards. It takes place each April in Brighton on the south coast of England. The inaugural Brighton Marathon was organised by former international athlete Tim Hutchings and former Brighton club athlete, Tom Naylor.Race HistoryThe first running of the race took place on 18 April 2010. The race opened to 12,000 entries, with 7,589 participating on race day. The course start line was at Preston Park. The route took in some of the sights of central Brighton before heading East towards Rottingdean. The race then headed west out to and around Hove, before returning on the seafront and finishing on Madeira Drive, close to Brighton Pier.In Year 2 (April 2011), over 8,000 runners took part with spectator numbers estimated at around 120,000. The race has acquired the status of “Britain’s No. 2 marathon” for its profile in the national running arena, for its standard of race organisation and for the publicity generated by the event. More than two hundred charities had runners in the 2011 event and this demand has led to an increase from 3,000 to 5,000 in the number of places being offered to charities in 2012.The 2012 event saw a 20% increase on entries to an acceptance of 18,000, putting it in the top 12 running events in the UK. In September 2011, The Brighton Marathon was granted coveted Bronze Medal status by the World governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). IncidentsIn the 2013 race, a participant died: 23-year-old Sam Harper Brighouse, of South East London, collapsed in Grand Avenue and was taken to hospital where he was later pronounced dead. The inquest ruled he died of bowel ischaemia and a gastro-intestinal haemorrhage, brought on by an idiosyncratic reaction to hyperthermia, dehydration, endurance exertion, hyperosmolar sports supplements and ibuprofen. The coroner stated Harper Brighouse's preparations for the race were appropriate.