British Olympic Marathon contenders will battle for places in the postponed Tokyo Olympic Marathon in a selection trial that will take place in Richmond on Friday 26 March 2021. The race will be part of the Richmond RUNFEST events weekend, as well as doubling as the British Marathon Championships for 2021.
In the search to find a venue for the British Olympic marathon trials, organisers looked at a number of different locations, including staging the race as part of the Manchester Marathon, using Dorney Lake near Windsor or scheduling the race in Europe, but they settled on Kew Gardens - a secure, flat, gated area that has managed to stay open for most of the pandemic. The area is thought to bring a level of certainty to the event.
It is thought around 60 athletes will take on the event, which will be held on a flat 5.5 km loop. The course is believed to be fast enough for the athletes to hit the Olympic qualifying time of 2.11:30 for men, and 2.29:30 for women.
For non-elites, there will also be a socially distanced marathon and 10K as part of the Richmond RUNFEST weekend.
In a statement, Tom Bedford, race director of the trials race and also the Richmond Runfest said, ‘In 2013, Richmond RUNFEST was created as a London Olympic Legacy event and it is a privilege for us to help our country's top marathon runners book an Olympic place for Tokyo in 2021.
‘The Olympic Marathon Trials outside of the London Marathon is a unique but exciting prospect and during the hardest of years we hope that Richmond will once again rejuvenate the Olympic spirit of 2012 and make history again!’
