• The London Classics comprises the Virgin Money London Marathon, the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 and Swim Serpentine’s two-mile swim
• Double Olympic gold medallist Heather Stanning OBE will be one of the first to complete the London Classics
• All London Classics finishers receive a specially-designed medal and enter the London Classics Hall of Fame
London Marathon Events today launched the London Classics, the country’s greatest and most iconic mass participation challenge. The unique challenge requires participants to run the Virgin Money London Marathon, cycle 100 miles in the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 and swim two miles at Swim Serpentine, the open water swimming festival.
The first chance for people to complete the London Classics comes at this year’s Swim Serpentine on Saturday 16 September with the introduction of the new London Classics two-mile swim. Anyone who has completed the London Marathon since 1981 and cycled the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 since its inception in 2013 is eligible to enter.
Everyone who completes this iconic trio of events will receive a specially designed London Classics medal and will be listed in the London Classics Hall of Fame.
Hugh Brasher, London Marathon Events Director, said: “We have brought together the best marathon in the world, the world’s greatest cycling festival and our inspirational open water swimming event, Swim Serpentine, to create the London Classics. This will become one of the world’s great sporting challenges. Over the years, the London Marathon has inspired hundreds of thousands to take up running and we hope the London Classics will inspire tens of thousands to try a new sport.
“If you have already completed the London Marathon and the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100, you can enter this September’s two mile London Classics wave at Swim Serpentine and your name will become part of sporting history.”
One of the first people aiming to complete the London Classics is double Olympic gold medal-winning rower Heather Stanning OBE. She ran this year’s Virgin Money London Marathon and takes on the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 on Sunday 30 July. She then aims to achieve the ultimate sporting triple by completing the Swim Serpentine two-mile swim on Saturday 16 September.
Stanning said: “It is a fantastic opportunity to be one of the first to complete this unique sporting triple. It is such a great idea from the London Marathon Events team and a challenge I’m sure lots of people will want to take on.”
Swim Serpentine takes place on Saturday 16 September and the London Classics wave is a challenging two-mile swim in the Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park. This is the first opportunity for people to complete the London Classics, receive the specially-designed medal and see their name entered in the London Classics Hall of Fame.
The special-designed medal is engraved with the words: Et ego Londinium vici (‘I too have conquered London’).
Since 2013, more than 2,500 people have completed the Virgin Money London Marathon and Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 and thousands more cyclists will have run the London Marathon prior to 2013. By entering Swim Serpentine’s London Classics two-mile swim in September, they will be in line to join the London Classics Hall of Fame.
To be awarded a London Classics medal, you must finish all three classic London events: the London Marathon, the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 and Swim Serpentine’s two-mile swim. There is no time limit on when these are completed and they can be done in any order.
For more information and to enter the London Classics wave at Swim Serpentine, click here.
