Biggest ever number of participants take part in Virgin London Marathon
The 35th edition of the Virgin London Marathon last Sunday 26th April, saw the highest number of participants in its history, with more than 37,000 entrants crossing the finish line in Westminster.
Also out in full force was Westminster City Council’s cleaning teams, Veolia, who took on the marathon task of cleaning the route as the last people crossed the finish line. The 30-strong clean-up team set to work just after 5pm and had all rubbish and recycling removed within two hours - about the same time as it took the elite men to complete the course.
The team collected a total of seven tonnes of rubbish, including four tonnes of recyclable waste and 40,000 plastic water bottles which will be recycled into items such as new bottles, eco-friendly clothing or upholstery for car seats.
Mark Banks, head of Westminster City Council’s Waste and Parks, has said: ‘We were proud to have the eyes of the world on Westminster this weekend. This year was a special event and an emotional day for everyone who took part and transformed their 26.2 mile-challenge into millions of pounds for charity.
Once again, our street cleaning team have shown enormous dedication, delivering a swift clean-up operation which has allowed the City of Westminster to look its best within just a couple of hours.”
This year the organisers of the London Marathon were ably assisted by local volunteers, Westminster City Guides, in making sure everything ran smoothly on the day.