London Marathon bosses are pleading with Just Stop Oil not to derail Sunday’s race.
Two members of the organisation protested at the World Snooker Championship on Monday and have said they will continue to target sports events.
London Marathon event director Hugh Brasher has been holding lengthy talks with Extinction Rebellion and other organisations, who are protesting in the capital over the weekend, and have been reassured they have no plans to disrupt the race.
But Brasher admitted he had yet to speak to Just Stop Oil but said on Wednesday he was hoping for imminent talks in the lead-up to the race.
“We have been talking to Extinction Rebellion for months,” he said. “They have been very clear they are in a new phase of wanting to engage the general public in a different way. It was not Extinction Rebellion at the snooker, it was Just Stop Oil.
“I haven’t had the conversations with Just Stop Oil, those conversations should be happening this afternoon. I hope in those conversations they will be giving the same assurances. I will be asking them to help and protect the marathon because of the good it does in society. I just hope Just Stop Oil listen to what we are saying.”
Just Stop Oil have yet to say if they have plans to disrupt Sunday’s race. And, while it is impossible to police the entire 26.2mile route, marathon bosses say they have various measures in place in order to protect the race.
Brasher tried to highlight the green credentials of a race co-founded by his father Chris, who as a journalist used to write about conservation.
Brasher added: “The London Marathon is unique, we run for clean air, that is so important in what we do. We run together and the environment is enormously important. It is part of our DNA.
“We are reaching out to all parties because we run together. We run together for charity, we want to celebrate humanity, we run together for our communities and we want to be together in peace.”
