LAST Sunday I took part in the Edinburgh Marathon.

Over the weekend more than 30,000 runners took part in the events, with around 10,000 in the full marathon.

The last mass participation Glasgow Marathon was in 1987, when I was still in my teens and too young to take part. Not that the 18 year-old me would have ever contemplated running a marathon.

Other UK cities that have a marathon include obviously London, but as well as the big one, Belfast, Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, Brighton and Leicester all host one.

Also in Europe, Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin, Brussels, Dublin, Florence, Hamburg, Munich, Oslo, Paris, Oslo and many others are on the list.  

Glasgow is phenomenally successful at attracting and organising elite athlete events with the UCI Cycling World Championships coming next year the latest.

Really, the perfect time to re-instate the Glasgow Marathon would have been after the Commonwealth Games in 2014, the last time athletes covered the 26-mile, 385-yards around the city.

Glasgow Times:

The benefits are clear. Marathons attract runners and their families from all over to take part, so the economy gets a boost with bars, hotels and restaurants getting a lift.

But also, there is the health and activity benefits. When the marathon was last run there were plenty of people from Glasgow who took part, who had never thought about running a marathon and have never considered running one somewhere else since.

The 10Ks and the half-marathon in Glasgow are brilliant events which have been running for some time.

The marathon would give people in the city another goal to aim for and another opportunity to showcase the city.

As I said above, I was too young to run the old Glasgow Marathon. I don’t want to be too old when it is eventually revived. So, can we put Glasgow back on the marathon map please.

Come on Glasgow, on yer marks.

I ran the marathon to raise funds for the British Red Cross to support their operations at home here in Scotland and the UK and internationally, including in Ukraine.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/stewartpatersonruns