Hugh Brasher
“ Sustainability without profit is not sustainable , so you ’ ve got to ensure there is the right balance .”
Driving the Mini On the day before the main event , LME hosted around 7,000 children who ran 2.6 miles at the TCS Mini London Marathon ; a new initiative that offered schools £ 10 for each one of their pupils who completed the race . The funding is provided by TCS for the schools to spend on PE or IT equipment .
Brasher says the ambition is to grow the event to 50,000 children by 2030 : “ We already have 4,000 school kids signed up for next year ’ s TCS Mini London Marathon , and
the target is 10,000 . The aim is to help schools and inspire the next generation .”
Among the very many suppliers involved in the TCS London Marathon were Wernick Events , Arena Group ( see box ) and Sunbelt . Brasher says that over the event ’ s 42-year history strong relationships with suppliers have been forged and those relationships have helped it through the tougher times .
“ We continued to stage events during the pandemic and our suppliers were incredibly helpful in very challenging circumstances ,” he says . “ It ’ s all about relationships . As an industry we must look after each other . Showing kindness to each other is paramount . There are difficult circumstances that are going to continue for everybody , whether it ’ s staffing , supply chain , electricity prices , the Ukraine war or market uncertainty . We live in a world that is very different to the one in 2019 , so what we need to do is be open , be transparent and work well together .
“ What we do as an industry is so important . We bring people together in a hugely positive way . That isn ’ t something our industry is genuinely credited for by the Government , and we need to continue working to change that .”
On the Friday before the TCS London Marathon , Access joined Arena Group project manager Nathan May and his two teams of eight scaffolders and carpenters as they worked their way across London to construct 52 marker towers on the course .
Marking the kilometres and mile points , the 3D printed system was being used for the first time . Designed to cope with inclement weather and potential vandalism , the markers consist of 48 hexagons , 19 panels and a steel deck base construction with a 25kg weight . Designed by Swindon-based Scaled , the system was largely created from recycled plastic .
With six articulated lorries of equipment to move , unpack and construct , May had set aside two days for the job but said he was confident that in future , as his team becomes more familiar with the new system , the job could be done in one day .
To aid the construction process , every component was carefully packed within boxes so that , once opened , they would be accessible in the correct sequence . The boxes were also positioned on the truck sequentially to assist with the ordered tower construction .
Aside from coping with the London traffic , there was also the logistical challenge of planning the build pattern so the roads could be navigated in the most efficient manner .
Said May , “ We construct the towers on each side of the roads but because of the nature of the course obviously we can ' t be moving lorries over from one side of the road to the other in certain locations . We have to plan a route that works for the lorries and make sure they ’ re not stuck down side streets .”
The 3.5metre markers with their eyecatching hexagonal design will not only be rolled out again at the next event in April , May says they have been designed with both sustainability and longevity in mind : “ They can be used for anything and for a number of years because the branding is interchangeable ,” he said .
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