The Marmalade Run

Please note that this page is hosted by the SVP100 website. There is no need to register for The Marmalade Run, as this is an informal and fun ultra marathon run.

The objective will be to visit every single Paddington bear on the Paddington Trail in a single day, starting at the O2 Arena and finishing at Heathrow Airport T5. What better way to burn off the mince pies and build up an appetite for marmalade sandwiches, whilst seeing the Christmas decorations around London?

Please ‘bear’ in mind that this is not an officially organised run, and we take no responsibility for people on the day. Everyone should respect the highway code and also be respectful to pedestrians.

The proposed route for the run can be viewed and downloaded here:

You can also download the route using Viewranger here.

The Paddington bears are there to raise money for the NSPCC. As such, it would be great if we can raise some funds for this charity. Whilst it’s not mandatory, it would be a nice thing to do. Please feel free to add yourself to the team sponsorship page:

https://www.justgiving.com/teams/Marmalade

Throughout the day, we will try and photograph the group alongside every bear on the trail. It would be great if any of you want to bring along a GoPro camera or something similar to capture some photos. We will need to be very efficient at grouping around the bear, taking photos and moving on. Please follow our instructions on the day, as we can only really afford to spend a maximum of a minute or two at each bear.

This run will be self supported, but there should be plenty of opportunity to obtain food and drinks along the route. For safety, if you are planning on running the whole route, we strongly advise that you carry something capable of holding at least 1-1.5 litres of water, a waterproof, a warm top, some energy snacks, and a survival blanket. Everyone running should carry water, a travel card, cash, and a full charged mobile phone. We have no idea what the weather will do on the day, but it will certainly be cold, so please dress appropriately. If you have any Paddington bear-related attire, feel free to wear it.

Regarding timings, we will be meeting at the main entrance to the O2 at 0845, ready to visit the first bear at 0900. We will then run slowly to Greenwich for the opening of the observatory at 1000. From there, we will be running to the V&A Museum of Childhood, where we expect to arrive around 1100. After that, timings become less certain, but people are welcome to join us at any point along the route. You will be able to follow our progress on Twitter through the following tags: #marmaladerun #paddingtontrail

The entire run is expected to be ~48 miles in length, but you should be able to see a good number of the bears over a much shorter distance, particularly if you join us at the V&A Museum of Childhood (close to Bethnal Green tube on the Central Line). The pace will be somewhere around a 4.30 marathon pace, so should be relatively relaxed and sociable for the majority of longer distance runners. This is intended to be a fun run, not a race.

All runners making it to the finish in Heathrow T5 will be rewarded with a free beverage at The Five Tuns pub.

Have a fantastic Christmas one and all, and we look forward to seeing everyone on the 28th!