At the weekend I ran the London Marathon, and it was amazing to be part of such a fantastic and emotional day. However what I found interesting is that for a day which is meant to be all about personal achievement and raising money for charitable causes, every brand sponsorship opportunity has been exploited.

Around Cutty Sark

Official sponsors include Flora, Adidas, Lucozade, Timex, TNT, Vittel, Realbuzz.com, London Pride and Holiday Inn - to name a few. Advertising hoardings cover most of the route, with every opportunity taken to erect a board with a logo - especially where the cameras are situated.

The kit bags which you must use to drop off your clothes at the beginning are covered in logos, and the finishers t-shirt is equally branded. When you do finally cross the line, the second thing you are given, after your medal, is a very heavy bag full of free stuff and leaflets. Why I would want some tea bags or a leaflet from Cif telling me how best to clean my trainers just after I have run 26.2 miles is beyond me.

The kit bag

But the most spectacular of all is the pre-race expo in London’s Excel centre, where you must go to collect your race number. The sponsors take this opportunity to try and sell you everything going. I was amazed how many people were buying everything from new trainers to boxes of energy bars. I guess trap a nervous consumer who is looking for any reassurance and advice they can get, and you can sell them anything.

Entrance to the Expo

The immense sense of achievement you get from completing the course is unrivalled, and in my opinion it is one of the few events left that bring people together and unite them towards a common cause. But with the ever increasing commercialisation of the event, it is in danger of losing its human touch, because at its heart it’s about ordinary people achieving extraordinary things and raising money for worthy causes.

Next year the marathon moves into a new era, with it becoming the Virgin London Marathon, and it will be interesting to see if anything changes.