Run247 went along to check out the new London Marathon Store based near Liverpool Street in London and found more than "just another shop'. The shop is open now with an official and grand opening planned for early 2014:
To view photos from the new London Marathon store, click the 'Gallery' button above.
There are not many running events that could justify having their own store, but the London Marathon is definitely one with a huge following, prestigue and history.
The London Marathon store is situated close to the Liverpool Street station on Bishopsgate road, located in the basement and ground floor of an office block. Right there amongst many businesses and offices the London Marathon organisers have created an impressive running shop that not only offers everything a runner might need in one place, but also doubles as a mini museum.
On entering the store, visitors are greeted with two walls plastered with past London Marathon bib numbers. There are also two TV's showing highlights of this year's race and of course the tune that immediately connects you with the London Marathon playing from the speakers - "The Trap" composed by Ron Goodwin (you can listen and buy the song on iTunes HERE).
The store is very spacious and it is already filled to the brim with the latest running shoes and apparel. All the major brands are generously represented and race sponsor adidas in particular has a great presence in the store. While we were there a delivery of the latest adidas Supernova Glide 6 arrived - the London Marathon is the only store in the UK to have these at the moment!
On the side walls are coloured lines representing the three different start-corrals of the race, and all around the store are all the different street names that the course takes in. (My particular favourite would be HA HA ROAD. Along with the street names around the shop, there is a course map and course profile on one of the walls and across the ceiling is a map of London with the route represented by colour lights, including the different colours for the three starts.
The store has a couple of treadmills to perform gait analysis. Above each treadmill there is a screen, showing the marathon course from the lead car, so you can get to know the course or re-fresh your memory while trying on a new pair of running shoes.
For some history, there is a display of every medal since the race began in 1981 and numerous pictures of famous British Winners including Paula Radcliffe, Steve Jones etc… You can also see the divers helmet that Lloyd Scott (www.lloydscott.co.uk) wore when he completed the 2002 race in a deep-sea diving suit, taking 5 days, 8 hours, 29 mins and 46 seconds. Interesting fact: Since its inception in 1981 over 880,000 runners have completed the London Marathon!
The store has been put together with the assistance of Sweatshop (www.sweatshop.co.uk) and, as is common in Sweatshop stores, all the employees I spoke to are keen and active runners and really know their stuff. Jason the store manager has years of experience in operating a running shop and has a real passion for running.
You can watch a brief video of the store below:
The downstairs of the shop is still under wraps and no filming was allowed at this point. What I can tell you is that there will be changing and shower facilities to support regular runs from the shop and that adidas have an installation that will be ready for the launch early in 2014.
Just before I was about to leave the shop I noticed a secure perspex box on the serving counter with a red cushion in it - intrigued, I enquired what it was for and was told it is to display the 2014 Virgin Money London Marathon medal when it arrives (No dates given yet).
So if you are running the Virgin Money London Marathon 2014, have run the race before or are just interested in running, then the London Marathon Store is a must visit. You could wait till the store is officially open and the downstairs is complete, but you can also visit now as there is already plenty to see and buy!
The London Marathon Store
1 Norton Folgate, Bishopsgate, London E1 6DB
Virgin Money London Marathon website: www.virginmoneylondonmarathon.com
You can follow Jason the store manager on twitter here: twitter.com/JasonCurzon
