A marathon event - for the competitors and for us
I’ve been lucky enough to work on most of the great sporting events but nothing beats the for sheer emotion. It’s not even the scale, although that can be frightening in its complexity. I find it’s the responsibility of trying to reflect 35,000 runners, all with a story to tell. The elite at the front will be looking for fast times but the rest will be aiming to meet the challenges they set themselves and raise millions of pounds for charity in the process.
Some of the tales are heart-rending and are the stuff of real inspiration. Who can fail to relate to the emotional stories of runners affected by tragedy or illness, particularly when children are involved? We don’t apologise for not exclusively focusing on the elite. This is an event that is so much more and you may be surprised to hear that audiences do not drop away once the races are won. Clearly, people are moved by the experience and enjoy watching ordinary people and a sprinkling of celebrities pushing themselves to the limit.
Once again, we will be encouraging viewers to email and text us on the day with messages of support for the runners, which we will feature on the bottom of the screen. We’ll also have our usual red button interactive service with separate feeds of the elite races, mini-marathons and the finish line.
Radio Five Live and 91Èȱ¬ London radio also have extensive coverage on Sunday morning. Before that, there is a preview programme on Friday lunchtime (91Èȱ¬ TWO, 1.25pm), which you can also watch via the red button and on the . Not only will you get the chance to meet one of the world’s athletics greats, – who has yet to win in London - but also follow Paralympic Basketball star, actor and presenter Ade Adepitan as he takes up the marathon challenge.
For us the logistical and technical challenges are not to be underestimated. This is one of the most complex outside broadcasts (OB) of the year and the production and technical teams (led by executive producer Martin Webster and engineering manager Robin Stonestreet) operate at full stretch to provide some of the great pictures and signature shots that we all remember. This year, we will be using 35 cameras, six motorbikes, two helicopters and an overhead circling plane to cover the 26.2 mile course. The plane is a relatively recent innovation and has made our coverage relatively weather proof!
On the morning of the marathon, I used to rush to the bedroom window to check the weather. Low cloud meant the helicopters could not fly and we would not get aerial pictures or signals from the motorbike cameras. New digital technology and the use of a plane which can fly above the cloud have prevented a sleepless night before the race, although it’s still one of the most nerve-wracking programmes I do!
Not that I don’t look forward to it. I still rate it as one of the great days of the year and am proud to have worked on it from the in 1981. I still get a buzz guiding presenter Sue Barker, the reporters and the commentary team through the rigours of the day. I’ll pray that communications to Sue work well, to Blackheath and , although there will be no excuse if the commentators can’t hear my dulcet tones from the gallery at 91Èȱ¬ Television Centre. To let you into a secret, they’re in West London too, as they get the best view watching the outputs from all our outside broadcast sites and mobile cameras in a specially-rigged commentary booth!
I will, though, spend a few seconds next weekend thinking back to that first race in 1981. I was a junior radio producer looking after reporter Tony Adamson at the . We did not know what to expect and were overwhelmed, as we sat perched on top of a land rover, by the inspirational sight of thousands of runners passing us by. Once they’d all passed, we hot-footed it through the tunnel under the Thames and on to the to pick up the race later on. No OB van this time; we had to find a phone box! Mind you, I made sure I had plenty of change. Tony had been to the pasta party the night before for and unfortunately ran out of change while live on the air. The pips beat him to his punch line!
Coverage is more sophisticated now in every sense, but some things have not changed. It’s always been an extraordinary sporting event and all of us at 91Èȱ¬ Sport are immensely proud of the part we play in it.
