Runners in this year’s Virgin London marathon were greeted with sunshine and clear blue skies on the the morning of the marathon. The Save the Rhino team met nice and early in Greenwich Park which was buzzing with excitement and nerves before the race.
We had our largest ever team of 71 runners in this year’s marathon, including 15 running in our famous rhino costumes. It was fantastic to see so many of our runners before the race as they popped by to say hi on the way to their start. During the hour prior to the race our team of volunteers set about fitting our rhino runners into their costumes with plenty of padding, safety pins, tape and vaseline. Our rhino team attracted huge amounts of attention even before the race began and with rhino runners commencing from all 3 start lines (red, green and blue) we had the whole start covered.
Our team joined 37,500 other runners and were cheered on by the supportive crowds lined along the whole route. The rhinos attracted a fantastic amount of attention and were featured on several news highlights of the race. Family and friends of the team were great at dashing across London to cheer the runners at different points along the course.
We set up our rhino picnic area at the end of the race in St James’s Park and welcomed the team at the finish with a beer and well deserved massage. Our first runner to finish the course was Andrew with a very impressive time of 3hr 4 mins, this was closely followed by several other team members – including some for whom London was their first ever marathon. Our first rhino to finish the course was Rhino Vinny, who finished in 4hr 17 minutes creating a new rhino record! We had runners joining us throughout the afternoon, and even heavy rain showers could not dampen the amazing atmosphere. All of our runners finished the course with our last rhino who danced and entertained the crowds along the route finishing around 6pm.
Our Save the Rhino marathon team were absolutely amazing this year and we are really lucky to have such a fantastic group running and fundraising for us. The team have raised around £60,000 so far with sponsorship continuing to stream in (the final totals will be announced at the end of May). Money raised by the team raised is hugely important in allowing us to continue supporting our rhino conservation projects across Africa and Asia
Once again a huge thank you to all of those who the 2012 Virgin London marathon for us!
Save the Rhino marathon team in the news
Rhino John was featured in the main marathon coverage in the Guardian, click here to see the full story
Rhino Paul has a great photo in the London Evening Standard, click here to read the full story
Rhino Vinny appeared in the Metro paper the morning after the race and the rhinos were also featured on the BBC marathon highlights.
Image credit: Russel Pearce
Runner’s facebook feedback from the London marathon
”The pain, I can’t move, lol!! I had an AMAZING day yesterday- thank you so much everyone at Save the Rhino for all your hugs, smiles, massages, congratulations, support, food and drink, you are all amazing! And a MASSIVE well done to everyone who did the marathon, especially the rhino costume runners- you are all absolutely fantastic!!!!”
”Thank you so much for everything, we had an amazing day and loved being part of the Rhino team. A massive well done to all the rhino runners but especially the costume runners. Sad that it’s all over now, good luck for the future runs everyone”
”To ALL at Save The Rhino. What amazing people you are, your dedication, the yummy sarnies, crisps and arranging the massages. Thank for doing so much for us runners. What a welcome sight Katherine was with a great smile, massage clipboard and crisps… And to all the runners…. INCREDIBLE STUFF. I am so proud to have run with you all. Now lets keep saving our rhinos… Happy sore legs, blisters and aches… It was worth it”
”A massive well done to everybody! My GOD that was hard work and physically the most exhausting thing I’ve ever had to do, but I loved every second of it and it was definitely worth it. I have so much respect for those who ran in a rhino costume, it must’ve been so much harder”
”Thank you so much for yesterday – It was all way better than I thought it would be, and not feeling too rough today either (although I did walk most of the way!) Loved every minute of it, definitely would like to do it all again next year; the reaction from the crowds was fantastic! Going to miss being a rhino :(”
”Thanks “”save the rhino”” for making today’s day special, well organised and you all are such lovely people, really tough challenge thought my calfs were going to explode!!!”
”Thank you so much to the save the rhino team who helped us all get round today…that was really hard, but also one of the best days of my life to date! hope to see a few of you again, but in case I don’, for all of team rhino 2012 well done, you were all amazing, and it was lovely to meet you all – even over 26.2 miles!”
”That was the hardest thing I have ever done. It was awful to run with the rhino costume, and it lasted just over 6 hours, but still a rewarding experience. I cannot believe the attention I got. That was amazing and I will never experience that again. Thanks again to the Save the rhino team for just being great people and working so hard for such a great cause.”
”4hrs40mins….. Loved every minute of it…. Almost.
Congratulations to everyone that took part and what a result for the fundraising too.”
”Today was the one of the greatest moments of my life.. Such an awesome experience foe the best cause ever.. All for the rhinos baby!”
wow well done alll off the runners!
Hi there, my name is Katie I am originally South African but now live in Surrey, near London. My daughter and I are interested in running the 2013 London marathon, with the idea of raising money for Save the Rhino. Does anyone have any idea how we could apply for the marathon under this charity pleeease? My daughter will be running a mini marathon.