# London Marathon 2017 raised a record £61.5 million for charity

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/09/13/london-marathon-2017-raised-record-61-5m-charity/
- Published: 2017-09-13T09:02:41+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**The 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon has raised the largest amount for an annual
single day charity fundraising event, raising £61.6 million for a range of charities.
This is the eleventh successive year in which it has set this world record.**

The 2017 figure, the first time the event has passed the £60m barrier, represented
an increase of more than £2m on the previous record total of **£59.4m** raised at
the 2016 event.

The total sum raised by the London Marathon since it was founded in 1981 is now **
more than £890 million**.

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In addition, since 1981, the London Marathon Charitable Trust has awarded grants
of more than **£66.5 million** to more than 1,200 projects in London, Surrey and
other areas where London Marathon Events Ltd has organised events.

## Virgin Money Giving

Virgin Money Giving is the not-for-profit fundraising partner of the London Marathon.
This year, [despite some problems](https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/04/24/virgin-money-giving-site-crashes-day-virgin-money-london-marathon/)
experienced by would-be donors accessing the site just before and during the event,
the platform handled **more than £25m**, including Gift Aid. [In 2015](https://fundraising.co.uk/2015/05/12/record-22m-raised-on-virgin-money-giving-by-2015-london-marathon-runners/)
it handled £22m, and [in 2016](https://www.virginmoneylondonmarathon.com/en-gb/news-media/latest-news/item/runners-raise-record-breaking-23-million-through-virgin-money-giving/)
handled £23m.  

![Virgin Money Giving site at 1.02pm on Sunday 23 April 2017](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.
cloud/2017/04/virgin-money-giving-down-20170423-13-02-london-marathon-day.jpg)

_Virgin Money Giving site at 1.02pm on Sunday 23 April 2017_

Virgin Money Giving will [remain the event’s fundraising partner until 2020](https://fundraising.co.uk/2015/10/20/virgin-money-giving-to-be-fundraising-partner-for-london-marathon-until-2020/).

## Race records

The 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon boasted a number of records:

 * 39 Guinness World records were set – which is itself a record!
 * Mary Keitany set two world best marks as she won her third London Marathon title
 * David Weir won a record seventh wheelchair title
 * Maunela Schär set a new course record in the women’s wheelchair race
 * a record 39,487 people completed the course

![London Marathon 2017](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2017/09/london-marathon-
2017.jpg)

Not surprisingly Event Director Hugh Brasher described the 2017 Virgin Money London
Marathon as “the greatest in the history of the event”.

He said: “Every year, the Virgin Money London Marathon inspires thousands of runners
to take on the challenge of running the famous 26.2 miles and to raise these incredible
sums for charity. We salute every runner who has contributed to this amazing world
record total of £61.5 million, a staggering sum from a one day event.”

This year’s event had a strong mental health theme due to the promotional work of
Heads Together, the Marathon’s Charity of the Year.

## 2018 London Marathon

The [2018 Virgin Money London Marathon](http://www.virginmoneylondonmarathon.com)
takes place on Sunday 22 April. It has already set a world record after 386,050 
people applied for a place via the public ballot, the most applications for any 
marathon in the world.

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