The London Marathon was inaugurated on March 29, 1981. The first race boasted 7 747 contestants of which 6 255 managed to finish the race at Constitution Hill. Today more than 46 000 were accepted to the race with 32 563 finishing on the day of the race. More than 711 000 people have already finished the race in 2008. The London Marathon website is the online window to this extraordinary event making it possible for athletes to register online, learn about the event, find maps, and more.

The attractive dark blue background with a banner of London on top ensures an appealing web design. The entrance page however, does take up time and valuable space. The advert being displayed is also at the homepage, and as such there is no need to dedicate the entrance, which is the most important page entirely to it. That being said, it does focus attention on the countdown.

The logo is displayed throughout the website and you never doubt that you are at the London Marathon website. The copyright notice is displayed and the sponsors easy to identify. There is no sign of a sitemap which would have been useful for quick navigation and for search engine optimisation. The London Marathon website lacks a search facility, but makes up with a straightforward menu at the left side of the page and at the bottom. The website is uncluttered and multimedia limited to the minimum. This has the benefit of quick loading and as it is mainly about information the images all support the content.

The main categories sub-divide and the Home options are always present. Interactivity is promoted through blogs, forums and finding runners that share your passion. A route plan calculator is also available, which is a useful resource for athletes in training. From a website analysis perspective the web design is functional and with no pop-up ads it is a pleasure to browse through it.

One warning though, as it is a Flash website, you will need to download and install the required software to use the website. No text or plain HTML version is available and it is recommended that the web design includes such an option for greater accessibility.

The images are well placed with descriptive ALT tags. Some side scrolling may be required to view the ads on the right side of the page. There is enough wording on the website and information is as current as can be. The internal linking system is well organized, but at the time of website analysis the link to the Marathon shop did not work. This may be due to maintenance and if you look at how well the London Marathon website is maintained, it will surely be up and running in a short while.

There are instructions on downloading and usage of the website at strategic spots and with the wide audience it caters to such as fans, all types of contestants, and sponsors, it is a well balanced website with the overall focus of providing required information and a good level of interactivity.

The Media in particular benefit from the London Marathon website as they have access to images once they have logged in which can be used in the media. A contact us page with required details is present and a map. Results can be searched and bookings made. The website is packed with useful tips such as nutrition, training, a supporter guide, and much more making it a comprehensive resource for those who plan to participate in future events.

The London Marathon website has a current Page Rank of 6 which can be improved upon through the use of a sitemap, Metatags with keywords and a description as well having the first page packed with information rather than having an entrance page. It competes for keywords such as London Marathon, marathon, running, England. It shows a staggering 16 641 incoming links from Yahoo at the time of website analysis (May 2, 2008) and 6 outgoing links. This is the correct balance for SEO. The blogs and interactivity as well as many resources count in favour of customer retention and traffic. Viral marketing is an important part of Internet Marketing and this is obtained through the Share Your Passion option. The website counts as mature since it has been online since 1997. As a marathon online resource, the London Marathon website succeeds in its web design as functional, appealing and interactive. In terms of SEO the website is doing well although the web design which requires Adobe Flash Player limits its ranking abilities. With a ranking of 6 it is still doing an excellent job. If you want to support, learn more about the race or want to participate in the next race, you should get to their website as soon as you can.