London – Edinburgh – London

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London – Edinburgh – London (LEL) is a cycling marathon that is held in the form of a certification . This means that each participant determines his own driving style and breaks on the approximately 1400 km long route. The time limit is 116:40 hours, which corresponds to an average speed of exactly 12 km / h including all breaks.

LEL is the British equivalent of Paris – Brest – Paris (PBP) and takes place every four years (most recently in 2017), two years after or before PBP. From the starting point near London it goes to Edinburgh in Scotland and back. It is the longest regular cycling marathon recognized as BRM (Brevet Randonneur Mondiaux).

The cycling marathon first took place in 1989 with 29 exclusively British participants, of which 26 arrived within the time limit. The route was 1,300 km long and one section led over the notorious A68 highway. Successful participants are therefore sometimes referred to as members of the "A68 Club". The starting point was Doncaster , the home of the organizer. The fifth edition in 2005 had 306 participants from numerous countries, including Japan, Russia, Australia, the USA and Canada. 246 cyclists crossed the finish line within the time limit. As a starting point you could choose between Cheshunt , about 16 km northeast of central London, and Thorne , which is not far from Doncaster.

In 2009 there were some changes: the starting point was exclusively Cheshunt , but you could choose between the starting times 8, 2 and 8 p.m. You could also preselect your time limit between 116:40 hours, 105:16 and 93:20 hours. These correspond to an average speed of 12, 13.3 and 15 km / h. The organizer offered all three time limits at each start time, while at PBP the start time depends on the choice of time limit. In 2017 the certification started on July 30th.

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