FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
EIGHT MPS SET TO RUN THE 2016 VIRGIN MONEY LONDON MARATHON
• The eight MPs will be attending a media call at Westminster Green outside
the Houses of Parliament at 11:00 on Tuesday 19 April
Eight Members of Parliament, including three front benchers, will line up
on the Start Line for the 2016 Virgin Money London Marathon on Sunday 24
April.
The eight are competing to become part of the London Marathon MPs Hall of
Fame, joining a long list of former and current MPs who have run the world
famous 26.2-mile course.
Two MPs are making their London Marathon debut alongside six veteran London
Marathon runners, who will be hoping to improve on the personal best times
they have set between 1984 and 2015.
The eight are:
Rt Hon. Alistair Burt, the Conservative Party’s Minister of State for the
Department of Health, who will run for the 10th time at this year’s event,
achieving a personal goal to make an appearance in every decade since the
race began in 1981. The most experienced marathon runner in the 2016 MPs
line-up, he first ran in 1984 where he set his personal best time of
4:14:48, while his last appearance was in 2008 when he ran 4:39:17. He is
running in support of Combat Stress and Sue Ryder.
Rt Hon. Alun Cairns, the Conservative Party’s Secretary of State for Wales,
who will run for the fifth consecutive year. Cairns was the first MP to
cross the Finish Line in 2014 (3:34:16) and 2015 (3:38:25) and will be
hoping to be the fastest MP once again in the 2016 line-up. He is running
to raise money for the charities Breast Cancer Now and The Brain Tumour
Charity.
Edward Timpson, the Conservative Party’s Minister for Children and
Families, who will run for the seventh time at this year’s event after
competing in all but the 2013 event as an MP over the last eight years.
Timpson will be hoping to beat his personal best time of 3:42:24 from the
2014 race. He is running in support of The Christie Charity.
Labour’s Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central), will be running Cairns and Timpson
close for title of fastest MP in his fifth London Marathon (and fourth as
an MP) after completing the 2015 race in a time of 3:44:55, a personal best
over the 26.2-mile course.
The All Party Parliamentary Running Group Chairman and Conservative MP
Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) will also be looking to complete his fifth
London Marathon and is hoping to improve on his previous best of 4:43:56
from 2014. He is running in support of Care after Combat.
Labour’s Jamie Reed, MP for Copeland, who is running for the second time
after completing the race in a time of 4:38:37 in 2014. He is running to
raise funds for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund).
Amanda Solloway, MP for Derby North, is one of two MPs making their debut
at this year’s London Marathon. She is running to raise money for the
charity Rethink Mental Illness.
Joining her on the Start Line will be Simon Danczuk, MP for Rochdale, who
is running in support of the Rochdale-based homelessness charity Petrus
Community.
SUMMARY
MPs running in 2016
Personal Best
Alistair Burt, Conservative, Bedfordshire North East
Personal Best: 4:14:48 (1984)
Minister of State for the Department of Health
This will be Burt’s 10th London Marathon
Previous times: 4:14:48 (1984); 4:26:47 (1985); 4:22:00 (1987); 6:20:29
(1989); 4:50:02 (1991); 5:04:37 (1995); 4:43:15 (2006); 5:18:35 (2007);
4:39:17 (2008)
Alun Cairns, Conservative, Vale of Glamorgan
Personal Best: 3:34:16 (2014)
Secretary of State for Wales
This will be Cairns’s fifth London Marathon
Previous times: 4:03:16 (2012); 3:39:41 (2013); 3:34:16 (2014); 3:38:25
(2015)
Simon Danczuk, Rochdale
Debut
Debut
Graham Evans, Conservative, Weaver Vale
This will be Evans’s fifth London Marathon
Previous times: 4:46:15 (2012); 4:49:00 (2013); 4:43:56 (2014); 5:28:30
(2015)
Dan Jarvis, Labour, Barnsley Central
Personal Best: 3:44:55 (2015)
This will be Jarvis’s fourth London Marathon as an MP
Previous times: 3:46:41 (2013); 3:45:08 (2014); 3:44:55 (2015)
Jamie Reed, Labour, Copeland
Personal Best: 4:38:37 (2014)
This will be Reed’s second London Marathon
Previous time: 4.38.37 (2014)
Amanda Solloway, Conservative, Derby North
Debut
Debut
Edward Timpson, Conservative, Crewe & Nantwich
Personal Best: 3:42:24 (2014)
Minister for Children & Families
This will be Timpson’s sixth London Marathon
Previous times: 3:58:36 (2009); 4:26:40 (2010); 6:28:47 (2011); 3:55:19
(2012); 3:42:24 (2014); 3:56:42 (2015)
The 2016 Virgin Money London Marathon takes place on Sunday 24 April. For
more information, media guides and details of accreditation go to:
www.virginmoneylondonmarathon.com
Members of Parliament have competed in all 35 London Marathon since the
race started in 1981.
Matthew Parris holds the record as the fastest MP. The former Conservative
politician finished in 2:32:57 in 1985. His five London Marathon times
(from 1981 to 1985) are all faster than the next quickest MP, Labour’s Doug
Henderson (2:52:24).
The London Marathon was first held on 29 March 1981.
The six founding principles of the London Marathon are:
• To improve the overall standard and status of British marathon
running by providing a fast course and strong international
competition
• To show to mankind that, on occasions, the ‘family of man’ can be
united
• To raise money for the provision of recreational facilities in
London
• To help London tourism
• To prove that when it comes to organising major events, ‘Britain is
best’
• To have fun and provide some happiness and sense of achievement in a
troubled world
In 2015, the Virgin Money London Marathon raised £54.1 million for charity,
setting a new Guinness World Record for the largest annual single-day
charity fundraising event worldwide for a ninth successive year.
Since 1981, The London Marathon Charitable Trust has awarded grants
totalling more than £57.7 million to 1000+ organisations in London, Surrey,
Silverstone, Birmingham and Liverpool
###
|
