Take Away English-London Marathon 伦敦马拉松

It's a long way to the finish line

This weekend, around 35,000 runners filled the streets of London, running the 26th annual London Marathon. The course is 26.2 miles long (42 km), and goes past many of London’s landmarks¹, such as the Tower of London, the famous 19th century ship Cutty Sark, the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. The runners actually run over Tower Bridge.

Among the elite² athletes running, Britain’s Paula Radcliffe was unable to defend her title from last year’s race due to an injury. The women’s race was won by American Deena Kastor in 2 hours 19 minutes, and Felix Limo from Kenya won the men’s race in 2 hours 6 minutes.

However, Britain still made a good showing, as British woman Mara Yamauchi came in sixth, whilst in the wheelchair marathon, Britain’s athletes excelled. Shelly Woods came second in the women’s race, and David Weir³ not only won the men’s race for the second time, but also set a new record of 1hour 29 minutes.

But in the London Marathon, everyone who finishes is a winner – for many thousands of people their goal was merely to complete the race and gain their finisher’s medal. The oldest competitor was 88 years old and the youngest just 18. About 80% of the ‘fun runners’ – those not competing professionally – were running the race to raise money for their chosen charity, and it is estimated that this year good causes will receive more than £35 million.

Some of the athletes ran or walked in fancy dress, ranging from monkey suits to fairies, clowns and superheroes. One couple chose to get married half-way round the race, and ran in traditional wedding attire⁴ – a full length white dress for the bride, and for the groom⁵, a top hat and tails.

The event is very popular with spectators, and around 400,000 people braved London’s drizzle⁶ in order to cheer on the runners and give them encouragement by cheering, waving flags and balloons and blowing whistles.

A challenging but fulfilling day for the runners, and an inspiring and exciting event for spectators too.

GLOSSARY 词汇表
annual 年度的；每年一次的 to defend her title 卫冕 came in 进入 goal 目标 good causes 公益事业 superheroes 超级英雄 bride 新娘 top hat and tails 礼帽和燕尾服 drizzle 蒙蒙细雨 challenging 具有挑战性的	elite athletes 精英田径运动员 a good showing 成绩尚佳 excelled 优胜 raise money 募捐 fancy dress 奇装异服 attire 服裝, 服饰 groom 新郎 braved 勇敢（冒雨） to cheer on 助威 fulfilling 充实的

 

1 landmarks   

n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址）

参考例句：

• The book stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the progress of modern science. 这部著作是现代科学发展史上著名的里程碑之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The baby was one of the big landmarks in our relationship. 孩子的出世是我们俩关系中的一个重要转折点。 来自辞典例句

2 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

3 weir   

n.堰堤，拦河坝

参考例句：

• The discharge from the weir opening should be free.从堰开口处的泻水应畅通。
• Big Weir River,restraining tears,has departed!大堰河，含泪地去了！

4 attire   

v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装

参考例句：

• He had no intention of changing his mode of attire.他无意改变着装方式。
• Her attention was attracted by his peculiar attire.他那奇特的服装引起了她的注意。

5 groom   

vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁

参考例句：

• His father was a groom.他父亲曾是个马夫。
• George was already being groomed for the top job.为承担这份高级工作，乔治已在接受专门的培训。

6 drizzle   

v.下毛毛雨；n.毛毛雨，蒙蒙细雨

参考例句：

• The shower tailed off into a drizzle.阵雨越来越小，最后变成了毛毛雨。
• Yesterday the radio forecast drizzle,and today it is indeed raining.昨天预报有小雨，今天果然下起来了。