The London-Sydney Marathon was the result of a luncheon in late 1967 at which a Daily Express team of editorial executives decided to find an event which the Express could sponsor to counter Britain's devaluation gloom.
It was agreed British car manufacturers would be proud to take part and countries through which the Marathon was steered would provide valuable audiences for export, publicity and sales. So the great event was announced and £stg10,000 ($Aus21,429) was offered.
Former racing and rally driver, Jack Sears, was appointed organising secretary and given the task of reconnoitring the route.
In Sydney; Sir Frank Packer, Consolidated Press chairman, was thumbing through the overseas newspapers in September 1967, when he saw an initial reference to the Marathon. He then cabled Sir Max Allen, Daily Express chairman:
"Read with great interest in Express Saturday twenty-third concerning motor car race from England to Australia stop This is most imaginative and original idea stop We would like to join you and be Australian end of sponsorship and promote it in Australia stop Also possibly send Australian-made car over to compete in event stop Appreciate your reaction kindest regards"
Sir Max's reply was equally prompt:
"Thank you for your exciting telegram stop Would be honoured to link with you on Sydney race stop Have meeting with Royal Automobile Club next week finalising details stop Will keep you informed stop With every best regards"
The Daily Telegraph was now in, and the paper decided to offer additional prize money of £stg7,000 ($Aus15,000). Since then there have been several months of planning, but when the first car zooms off on November 24 at 2 pm. (2300 Australian Eastern Standard Time), it will be the first of 100 entries, 18 of which are Australian.
To report the progress of the field, the Daily Express and its co-sponsors the Daily Telegraph and the London Evening Standard, have chartered a Viscount which will stop at each control point on the route from London to Bombay. Among its special facilities are a photographic dark room and a radio telephone link with London. These will ensure that up-to-minute information is available round the clock to the Marathon sponsors in London and Sydney.
The sponsors have also chartered two twin-engined planes for their teams of journalists and photographers to cover the Australian segment of the Marathon.
The Marathon has properly been called the classic motor event of the century. The Daily Telegraph is proud to be associated with it and it is making sure all its readers get all the inside Marathon news......first and fast.
- Daily Telegraph
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HOW IT ALL BEGAN
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1ST PRIZE
£stg.10,000 ($Aus.21,429)
Daily Express Trophy
plus free entry in
1969 Safari Rally
(worth £stg.60 - $Aus.130)
2ND PRIZE
£stg.3,000 ($Aus.6,438)
Daily Telegraph Prize
3RD PRIZE
£stg.2,000 ($Aus.4,285)
Daily Telegraph Prize
SPECIAL AWARDS
£stg.2,000 ($Aus.4,285)
Best performance by an Australian crew.
Daily Telegraph Prize
£stg.2,000 ($Aus.4,285)
First in general classification at Bombay
Carreras/Guards Trophy
£stg.500 ($Aus.1,075)
Private entrants award and Evening Standard Trophy
£stg.50 ($Aus.110)
Best performance by vintage car, presented by:
Lord Montagu
Many other awards including the Cibie Prize of £stg.200 ($Aus.430) as well as a ladies prize and a team award.
Special plaques will be presented to the drivers of every car, classified as a finisher.
The Daily Express and the Daily Telegraph set up a Marathon Committee which included some of the most experienced men in motor sport.
The honorary stewards were Sir Frank Packer, of Australian Consolidated Press, and Sir Max Aitken, of the Daily Express.
Chairman of the organising committee was Tommy Sopwith, a former guardsman and heir to an aviation fortune.
Secretary of the event and Clerk of the Course was Jack Sears, a former racer of touring cars, who had as his deputy, Tony Ambrose, a well-known rally exponent. The stewards included the Marquis of Camden, who, as the Earl of Brecknock, was a racer of fast cars. Another steward was John Gott, the Chief Constable of Northamptonshire.
Sears and Ambrose plotted the route in Australia assisted by the Confederate of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS), for the drivers on the Australian section. Dried out creek beds, heat, dust - in fact plenty of contrasts from the Victorian Alps to the flat, treeless Nullarbor Plain.
Plotting the route was not without its difficulties. Sears and Ambrose were stuck near Omeo, Victoria, for six hours when a creek bed collapsed under their car. They hoped the Marathon competitors had the same luck they had on the mechanical side. They covered the entire route from London to Bombay without so much as a flat tyre.
Sears predicted four difficult stretches along the 10,000 miles route - Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Australia, with Australia being the final crucial test.
- Alan Sawyer
OFFICIALS AND ORGANISERS
OFFICIALS
Honorary Stewards
Sir Max Aitken, Bart., D.S.O., D.F.C.
Chairman, Beaverbrook Newspapers Ltd.
Sir Frank Packer, C.B.E.
Director, Australian Consolidated Press Ltd.
Stewards of the Meeting
The Marquess Camden, D.L., J.P.
J.A.H. Gott, M.B.E., G.M.
B.L. Manfred
D.O. Macfarlane
R. Taylor
Organising Committee
T.E.B. Sopwith (Chairman)
J.A. Ambrose
D.H. Delamont
J.H. Kemsley
J.R. Robertson
J.G.S. Sears (Honorary Secretary)
J.E.G. Stevens
S. Turner
M. Wood Power
Secretary of Event & Clerk of the Course
J.G.S. Sears
Deputy Clerk of the Course
J.A. Ambrose
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Organisers discuss the route
Jack Sears (left) Tom Sopwith Tony Ambrose
The 1968 London-Sydney Marathon is a tribute to these two wonderful and legendary entrepreneurs.
They dared to inspire all of us to extend ourselves to achieve our dreams, as they did theirs.
John Roach
Jack Sears
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Sir Max Aitken - Daily Express - at a briefing before the Marathon.
How many faces do you recognise?
Photo courtesy Daily Express
Home I A Tale Of Two Cities I How It All Began I The Entrants I The Rules I Timetable I The Route I Their Story I Photo Albums
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The Ladies I How They Finished I BMC I Ford I Holden I Other Marques I Site Map I Memorabilia I Credits/About Us I Links
Home I A Tale Of Two Cities I How It All Began I The Entrants I The Rules I Timetable I The Route I Their Story I Photo Albums
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The Ladies I How They Finished I BMC I Ford I Holden I Other Marques I Site Map I Memorabilia I Credits/About Us I Links
HOW IT BEGAN - by Basil Cardew.
The idea of the Daily Express London-Sydney Marathon cropped up, as ideas often do, over a luncheon date last year with Sir Max Aitken, Jocelyn Stevens and Tommy Sopwith. Within a few hours the first announcement was made and from that moment on, an organisation had to be created to handle a highly complicated logistical problem.
First, eight-man organising committee chaired by racing driver (on land and sea) Tommy Sopwith while another ex-racing and rally driver, Jack Sears was appointed organising secretary. The committee also included car competition experts like Dean Delamont, Anthony Ambrose and Jack Kemsley. The Daily Express was to sponsor the great event which would involve driving 10,000 miles in 10 days with a £10,000 first prize and a £500 trophy.
The object was to counter the gloom caused by devaluation and anti-British feelings. It was felt that British car manufacturers would be proud to co-operate and that the countries, through which the Marathon was steered, would provide valuable audiences for export sales and publicity.
The next task was to decide the route from London to Sydney covering the greatest possible distance overland, but the cars could not go through Singapore as Burma refused entry permits and Colombo presented big problems in ferrying 100 cars from India. Additionally, the Arab-Israel war closed the Suez Canal and considerably reduced the number of ships in Far Eastern waters, capable of carrying 100 cars. Jack Sears negotiated with the P&O Line and arranged for 72 cars and their crews to be carried in the Chusan from Bombay to Fremantle.
Next, a pair of experienced rallyists to drive on a reconnaissance to Bombay. These were Jack Sears and Tony Ambrose who marked out the routes and arranged support from governments, local motor clubs, local highway authorities and won the assistance of the local police. Sears and Ambrose later made a second survey, covering the 2,600 mile Australian sector from Fremantle to Sydney.
The amount of paperwork was unending, involving tons of literature for bulletins, instructions to local authorities across two continents, car badges, finishers' plaques and many thousands of Daily Express posters, which were spread over the entire route to guide the 98 starters.
One headache in Australia was to see that 142 gates on farm and desert land were kept open. Australian Army enthusiasts volunteered to carry out rescue operations for any Marathon crews lost in the hundreds of miles of waterless desert. In Australia, a twin-engined plane was chartered so that Daily Express and Evening Standard reporters could drop in at any point on the route.
It was a big, exciting affair, the like of which has never been seen before.
How successful was it?
The magazine "Speed World International" gave this verdict: "The success of the Marathon has been so phenomenal that organisers are wondering whether or not it will have a lasting effect on regular international rallies. It must be admitted that the Marathon itself is an event of such magnitude that other long-distance contests pale into insignificance, not only as regards the length of the terrain involved, but in the world-wide publicity that has been attained."
