The best places to watch the London marathon

Hey Loons,

With a bit of planning, and getting to these spots at the right time you can spot your runner six times

For the last few London marathons I’ve managed to spot my wife running 6 times. It IS possible, it just takes a bit of planning, knowing the route and public transport and the person who you’re supporting will really appreciate it.

So here’s my guide. This is doable if your runner is aiming for a time of 4 hours or slower and I have assumed in this guide that your runner is aiming to cover the 42 kms in four hours which is about 5 minutes 40 seconds per kilometer.

Tips

  1. Get your runner to wear a tag, so that you can track them using the official London marathon app. This really helps you to be at the right spot at the right time.
  2. If you have bad phone signal you will have to do the calculations yourself by looking at the map of the course
  3. Carry a huge sign of encouragement so that your runner can find you. With so many faces to scan it’s often hard for a runner to find someone; they need something to look out for and a huge sign at the end of a selfie stick to lift above peoples’ heads is ideal.
  4. Aim to stay as close to a kilometer marker sign as you can, and make this clear with your runner and if you will be on the left or right as they pass. (For example you could make it clear that you will be as close as possible to the 20km sign, just after it on the left.
  5. Get ready to use the trains and tubes and check for delays.

The six places for spotting your runner:

These then are the six places to get to get to spot your runner in the London marathon :

  1. GREENWICH: CUTTY SARK
    10.5 km mark

After saying goodbye to your runner at Greenwich Park, make your way to the Cutty Sark which is a short 15 minute walk and will provide you with your first view of your runner. There is enough time to get a coffee from one of the stalls you’ll see as your runner should take about an hour or less to get to this (for a 4 hour marathon finish time)

2. CANADA WATER
14.6 km mark

Get on to the Jubilee Line and get off at Canada Water. Walk fast along the north side of the water, past the Decathlon on your left, and stop at this corner (2 in the map below) where Canada Street meets Quebec Way. It’s an ideal location because the runners are running straight towards you giving you enough time to spot them.

The google maps reference is
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ecjNraAR2fwsiLCCA

3. ROTHERHITHE

17.4km mark

Between spot 2 and spot 3, your runner only needs to run 3 km so you need to hurry on this stretch. Hurry down Albatross Way and Swan Road until you see the race passing in front of you at Brunel Road. There is usually some nice music playing from the Brunel Pub with a great vibe at this point. Here’s Google Map link:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/iGApxxE9mEVSSmLJ7

4. CANARY WHARF. WEST FERRY

24.4 km mark

Now you will have about 42 minutes to rush back to Canada Water Underground Station, get on the Jubilee Line, alight at Canary Wharf and make your way to Westferry. This can be quite a task as there is always a crowd to get back in to Canada Water tube.

At Westferry, walk down the ramp of the roundabout and position yourself to see the oncoming faces of the runners emerging from the tunnel. The spot for Google Maps is here:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/QVpKhJcowRmdEr6i6

5. CANARY WHARF. BANK STREET
29.4 km mark


From Westferry walk down Westferry Road and walk to Bank Street for the next stop. Your runner will have to run 5 km to get to this spot, so you can take a stroll to get there.

6. ST JAMES’S PARK
BIRDCAGE WALK

41.5 km mark

Now you need to get back on the tube at Canary Wharf, take the Jubilee Line to Westminster and then change for the District Line or Circle Line, one stop westbound to St James’s Park. Walk to Birdcage Walk to cheer on your runner in their final mile.

So there you have it! You will have seen your runner 6 times during the race. Now you just need to do two more things:

  1. Find them. The trees on the eastern part of St James’s Park by Horseguard’s Parade are good rendezvous points as they are marked with letters.
  2. Convince them that spectating at the London Marathon can be just as tiring as running it. Good luck!

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